《Aegis》
Chapter 1: Tristan Von Sebastion, of House Von Sebastion
You sign your name to the last Writ of Ownership, in triplicate, of course, and the Aegis, former Sword-class frigate of the Imperial Navy, is now the property of one Tristan Von Sebastion, Rogue Trader of the vaunted House Von Sebastion.
You sigh however. Now that the paperwork is done, the real work can actually begin. The Aegis is in terrible shape at the moment. You were able to get her for a song as a result, but it¡¯s going to be quite some time before the repairs are complete. Her engines, and indeed most of her after third, were blown into so much scrap metal in the void. The only reason anyone bothered to drag her back to Port Esailla at all was the high concentration of Mars-origin components and indeed some examples of outright Archeotech she still has.
The Aegis'' Vitae Life Support Engines still keep the air sweet and clear, and her wonderfully integrated and intricate Bridge and, even better, her Targeting-Matrix all survived, but the remainder and the replacements will have to make do with ''standard'' components. the only upside to rebuilding so much of the Aegis is the fact that you got to get a proper compartmentalized cargo hold slated to be put in as well. But that''s all a job for the yard hands, and you are hardly a first-class Eniginseer. So you put the Aegis out of your mind for the moment and think instead on the bridge crew and other essential positions you will need to fill.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
> Navigator, obviously. Otherwise the Aegis will never get out of the system.
> Likewise, an Astropath for inter-system communications.
> Enginseer Primus needs filling too, and you''d better find a good one to keep all of the Archeotech ticking and tocking along.
> Treasurer is the one spot you''ve already got filled: your Seneschal Zheeves will do nicely if you can pry him away from the trading houses for long enough.
> Master of Ordinance. Hmm, perhaps an ex-navy type would be best?
> Helmsman, and you are going to want a good one. Frigates are tough enough to chase raiders and the like away, but need to be handled precisely to deal with Cruisers of any stripe.
> A Bosun to manage the crew.
> A Chief Medicae, for the inevitable injuries and so forth.
> Not to mention the few-hundred-odd non-commissioned types you will need as well.
You shake your head and stretch, taking a turn about your-well furnished cabin. You''ve gone and sunk well and away too much of House Von Sebastion''s fortune into making the Aegis your own, and will need a fat contract to re-establish the high levels of income you enjoyed before your Houses'' previous ship, the Swordmaiden, got dragged into the warp. Where to begin then?
Chapter 2: Enginseering!
You stand up and rub your eyes, with a decision reached. You cannot get a contract, much less complete it in a timely manner, without both the Aegis in full functioning order and the officers to crew her. In the state the Aegis is in at the moment having an Enginseer Primus would be an immense help. With that post filled you could delegate the repairs of the Aegis into competent hands and get on with searching for the rest of the officers. Crew is also a concern, but they can wait until you have someone to do the recruiting and managing for you.
If you want an Enginseer Primus, then the best place to look you decide would be amongst the Enginseers currently working on repairing the Aegis. With a little luck, one of them will accept the position and serve you without too much fuss. You stroll back to your cabin and don your enforcer-pattern light carapace, and cover it with your wolf-lizard pelt cloak. Enginseers tend to work in hazardous environments, so the bit of extra protection would not go amiss. you glance at your weapons rack, and decide against bringing Serpent''s Breath, your power sword. You grin as you admire the intricate wavy patterns in her un-energized blade from which her name sprang.
But if you are not going to bring a blade, then you are most certainly going to bring your two sidearms. Your grandfather''s laspistol, richly gilded for all of its unfailing functionality goes into the Von Sebastion embossed holster on your left hip. Your personal favorite sidearm, an elegantly crafted foehammer, goes into the rather more plain but functional holster on our right hip, alongside the two over-sized 10-gauge shotgun shells for reloads. It may be ungilded, but the hammer cocks and the trigger breaks glassy-smooth, and the break-action barrel is beautifully blued. Properly attired and armed, you head down and aft towards the ongoing work-zones on the Aegis.
Several decks and half-an-hour later, you come across an observation gallery overlooking the ongoing work on the new Jovian-2 Plasma Drive. It¡¯s on tick-over at the moment, providing enough power for the Life-support systems and work crews, but not enough for full-power operations. Given that a mistake in its installation would probably result in the Aegis being reduced to so much shrapnel, not to mention the docking berth she is parked in, you heartily approve of whomever made the decision to keep it on tick-over. Looking around, you spot a likely Enginseer, picked out by his grimy white robes, Omnisian-pattern Combi-tool, and the toolbox he has slung across his back on a heavy leather strap.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Given the reduced gravity in this section of the Aegis, intended to facilitate the movement of large and heavy machinery, you simply vault over the rail at the edge of the observation gallery and drop the fifteen or so meters to the deck. The Enginseer looks over and cocks his head for a moment before moving to greet you.
"Jace Echo, Enginseer. I''m presuming that you are the Lord of this ship Sir...?"
"Tristan Von Sebastion. Yes, I am the Lord of the Aegis, and I''m looking for a good Enginseer Primus to head up her Enginseer department once repairs are complete. You wouldn''t happen to know where I could find one, would you?"
Jace cocks his head the other way before answering, "I might at that Lord. I''m an Enginemaster myself, not an Enginseer Primus, but I''m also damn near the only Enginseer assigned to repairing the Aegis. There are a couple of Adepts finishing up their apprenticeships here and there, but most of the workforce is menials and robots. If you want I can put in a word with my bosses that your searching..."
You promptly cut Jace off, "You are the Enginseer that put so much of the ship back in operation in the past three months while I was dealing with the Administratum? Tell me, how much longer do you think it would take to get the Aegis fit to fly again, assuming she has the crew and Officers to do so?"
Jace nods, "Probably another two and a half months. I definitely want a look at that Vitae Life Sustainer before I give you a better guess though. I can feel a tremor in the deck every few cycles or so when something kicks against a bulkhead from her general direction."
You grin, "Make it two and you''ve the position, hierarchy be damned."
Jace nods again, "I''d best get back to it then." He moves off upship, headed for the Life Sustainer.
Chapter 3: Financing and Profit Margins
You stride along easily in the low gravity, heading for your suite of rooms and the communications relay that you have set up there. With a semi-definite timeframe on when your beloved Aegis will be ready to sail, it is time to go ahead and dig your Seneschal Zheeves out of the trading houses and get him started on moving aboard. The Enginseer is going to want to requisition more parts and whatnot, and the other officers and crew are going to need to be paid in a timely fashion, so getting your finances up and aboard will be quite handy.
Not to mention Zheeves will probably start to pester the Enginseer''s ears off about converting one of the hold into a strongroom. The Aegis has twenty five of them all down her keel, each capable of holding about one ton of whatever, so losing one isn''t too much of a hassle, so long as the conversion doesn''t put you too much behind schedule.
Your musings wind down as you sit down at your private communications relay, sync up your combead, and punch in Zheeves'' personal combination. The familiar dialing sequence plays before you hear Zheeves'' combead ringing in its endless bleep-bloop-bleep-bloop tone.
"Zheeves of House Von Sebastion here. What¡¯s your business today?"
"Zheeves, it''s Tristan Von Sebastion. Paperwork is all filled and I''ve even got an Enginseer signed up. The Aegis is mine, and you can start moving aboard."If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
"Wonderful sir! I''ll start doing so in the morning. Do we have a definite schedule for launch?"
"Jace Echo, the Enginseer, estimates two to three months before we leave dock, plus a shakedown cruise and probably gunnery trials, if I can get the paperwork for those completed."
"That quick? I assume that you need to start filling the other officers berths, plus crew, food, water, munitions, stores, and so on and so forth? I''ll see what I can do about those."
"Just draw up a general list Zheeves, I''m going to see if I can locate and recruit a Bosun to handle the crew side of things for me. After that is going to be negotiating with the Navigator''s Guild for the services of a Navigator, and I''d like your input on that. Once we''ve that done, we can start thinking about a basic freight contract while I work on filling our other officers and requirements."
"So I''m to be your Executive Officer and Treasurer then sir? Quite a promotion from being a simple Seneschal."
"Remember the old saw about the faithful steward? Zheeves, you''ve earned it. Before I sign off though, what''s the general state of our finances, scale of one to one hundred? One being ''we''re screwed'', of course."
"With all that you''ve plowed into getting the Aegis refitted sir? Around a twenty. If you can fill a few contracts though, that will rise."
"Youch! Alright, Tristan clear." With that you close the connection. The only question in your mind is where in the warp you are going to find a proper Bosun who isn''t already serving aboard a naval ship?
Chapter 4: Of Smokey Bars and bad Rotgut
You seriously consider walking down to the local Spacer''s Bar, the Ferrous Firma, but decide to do that later. You want a Bosun for now, and decide that whomever you recruit needs to know how to fight up close and personal (as opposed to with macrobatteries) and that he or she can learn the essentials of being a spacer later. Then again, with how much time the Imperial Guard spends getting hauled from one place to another on troopships, an ex-guardsman will probably already be familiar with how ships work, so that may actually work out ok.
With this in mind, you head down to Aegis'' single working shuttle bay (the other three went up with the engines and are still getting fixed up) and look around for the shuttle to take you down to Viking, the planet below. Then you remember that you''re still in dock, and in a repair-slip at that, so there is no shuttle. You smack yourself on the forehead and head back to the dorsal airlock instead and cross to the Port Esailla Station. There you board one of the routine Station-to-shore shuttles down to Viking.
Three hours later, you disembark out into the Viking Low Spaceport and stride off in search of the local Imperial Guard HQ. Passers-by give you plenty of space, and as you think about it, you realize that between the carapace armor, the wolf-lizard cloak, and the plainly visible firearms, people are avoiding you because they think you are a bounty hunter. You are getting sloppy, you think as you stifle a yawn, and decide that instead of walking right into guard HQ, were the bureaucrats and the commissars will likely just toss you right back out again, to look for the local Guard Bar instead. Should be some old salts there who''ve been around the block a few times and who might be looking to muster out.
Another two hours of walking later, you''ve found the local Guard Bar: The Eagle''s Wing. Inside is the usual mix of barkeep, serving wenches, mismatch old and battered tables, synthwood bar, assorted guardsmen with las- and autorifles, and the ever-present cigarette and cigar smoke. The regulars look at you askance as your eyes sweep the room, but settle back down after they see you don''t have the usual red sash and pointy hat of a commissar.
Two figures catch your eye: one is an old and clearly retired man, battered augmetic leg clearly visible under his bar stool, equally battered augmetic hand clutching a bottle of the local rotgut. You pass him over however, not because of the augmetics or because he is seriously deep in his cups and still drinking, but because the other figure is far more imposing.
She sits with her feet up on her table in the back corner, eyes sweeping the bar every few seconds. Her left hand, less her missing middle and ring fingers, is holding a half-empty bottle of whitesnake. Her right hand rests on the butt of an intricately carved Kraken tooth dagger resting across her lap. Her raven hair contrasts strongly with her corpse-pale skin, a knotwork crow tattoo on her left cheek. A set of battered and scarred carapace covers her torso, and a matching helmet sits close at hand.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
You cross to the bar and order a bottle of whitesnake yourself, dropping the bartender a few thrones to cover the bill. You take a delicate sip, and liquid fire burns its way down your throat. Your eyes water briefly, and your mind promptly shakes itself awake for now. A strong batch, you are going to have one warpstorm of a headache in the morning. The bartender just grins at you, so you grin back and tip the bottle at him. You wander over to the raven-haired woman and sit down. She simply cocks an eyebrow, inviting you to speak.
"Tristan Von Sebastion, Shipmaster of the Aegis. I''m looking for a Bosun, and judging by that dagger, you''ve seen naval service in addition to groundside combat."
She simply nods and asks in a flat, hard tone, "Aye, that I have. but before we go any further, I must ask: Navy, Trader, or Pirate?"
You cock an eyebrow. Either the name of your House hasn''t reached down to Viking yet, or this woman doesn''t know of it. "Trader, House Von Sebastion."
She promptly nods and sheathes her dagger. "Then we can talk. By your name and House, you''ve an independent warrant, and that means you''ve your own ship, free and clear. So why come digging for a Bosun down groundside? And why the Eagle''s Wing?¡±
You take another sip before answering. "Experience. I''m looking for a Bosun who can help me recruit, train, and run a proper crew, and that means a person who knows how to instill discipline as well as fight. And you''re right, a spacer bar topside is more likely to find a navy type, but I figured that the space-side of things can be taught, and an ex-guardsman NCO or officer will have spent enough time on troopships to know most of the basics anyway."
She tips her bottle your way, "Fair enough. I''ll agree, on two conditions: one your house foots the medical bill for my fingers," she waggles her left hand, the whitesnake sloshing in the bottle, "and future expenses. Two: you never, ever surrender the ship to void pirates."
You nod, "agreed, with one reservation: future expenses within reason. I''m not sponsoring a crusade until and unless I can afford it!"
She takes another drink, throwing the whitesnake back like it was water. "Done and done and done then! the Aegis you said?"
You take another small sip and cough at the burn in your belly and the ache starting to build in your head. "Yes, give me your name and I''ll have Zheeves, the XO, add you to the roster and arrange for new fingers and whatnot.
She finished her bottle, sets it gently on the table, and grins at you. "Morrigan Ni Danann. Let''s get you back shipside before you pass out lightweight. Drink a bunch of water and I''ll see you sometime tomorrow afternoon once yer head stops pounding like a wardrum."
You can only nod, thinking of the meeting you need to arrange to gain the services of a Navigator.
Chapter 5: Of Headaches and Mindbenders
As Morrigan predicted, you awaken back in your private cabin aboard the Aegis with the Mother, Father, and Brother of all Hangovers. The overhead light hurts your eyes and everything is too loud, but your clock is chiming out high noon and the communications relay is blinking with recorded messages. You half stumble half crawl out of bed and head for the washroom.
One long shower, detox pill, and a fresh set of clothing later you feel better, if not your usual self, and you sit down at the communications relay to start going through your messages and the paperwork that has cropped up since you passed out last night. Flipping a mental coin, you decide to start with the messages. You reach over, dump in your password and hit playback.
"Jace here. Repairs are slightly ahead of schedule, and I''ve got the Life Sustainer back up and running at full capacity. Technical details are appended, but the short version is that I needed to replace and re-sanctify the water supply to the hydroponics bay.
In related news, we''re ready to go ahead and install the Sunsear Laser Turrets over the next two weeks or so, and after that the Aegis should be ready for her shakedown cruise. Enginseer Primus, clear."
Excellent news indeed, if Morrigan and Zheeves can line up a crew and contract. But there are two messages left to play, so you shrug and hit next message.
"XO Zheeves here Sir. Morrigan Ni Danann has been added to the roster as your Bosun, and Jace Echo as Enginseer Primus, and both have begun to take care of their duties with alacrity.
Bosun Morrigan has requisitioned Cargo Bay 7 for the purposes of crew training, and has started to recruit department heads and so forth. I''ve approved the majority of them, pending background checks. She also claims to know a good Helmsman and Master of Ordinance, and I''ve sent their resumes and dossiers to your desk for review. Unless you disprove or their background checks come up sour, I''ll hire them by the end of the day
Enginseer Primus Jace has informed me that the Life Sustainer is back at full capacity, and the shipboard air does indeed seem cleaner, and the hydroponics-grown food better-tasting. Given that the Voidsmen''s quarters are ready to receive crew, I''ve gone ahead and inserted the conversion of Cargo Hold 1 into a Treasury room into the work orders, and Jace assures me that it will be completed by the time we are ready to sail.
In other news, you are slated with an interview with House Saurlance for both a Navigator and Astropath contract at four PM shiptime. Being a Nomadic House, they have one of each available, and a worthwhile incentive to take the two as a pair. I should have a list of prospective contracts by the end of the day as well. XO Zheeves, clear."
Well, that is a batch of good news, and you check the paperwork on your desk, quickly sorting out the resumes and dossiers for the Helmsman and Master of Ordinance, and set them in one pile. The second pile you create contains the flowery letter of introduction and sketch-dossiers from House Saurlance, alongside a relatively small intel briefing on the Navigator and Astropath in question. with that sorted, you hit the play key to hear your third and final message.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"Bosun Morrigan here Sir. Department heads are shaping up nicely and each will be responsible for filling out their own departments. Jace has managed to run up an outstanding set of augmetic fingers for me. Doc, I mean Chief Medicae Berach is ready in install them as soon as I can spare the time. Given that I''ll need to re-learn how to use my left hand essentially from scratch, recovery will be a few weeks. Morrigan, clear."
Nothing particularly notable there, but the report was worth hearing if for no other reason than to assure yourself that Bosun Morrigan is on top of her new duties. With the messages done, you turn to the piles of paperwork sitting on your desk. After the sorting that you had done earlier, the smallish stack of notices form various of the new department heads, along with their readiness and efficiency numbers are easily worked through and filed away as needed, needing only a half-dozen acknowledgement signatures. The House Saurlance paperwork takes a fair bit longer, but contains a few nuggets of worthwhile information.
The Navigator in question is one Yasha Saurlance and the name pokes up memories of your trip to the edge of the Kania Maw to drag the Aegis back to port. that had been a harrowing journey, but the reward has, so far at least, been eminently worthwhile. If this Yasha was the Navigator for that trip, then your respect of her has risen notably. You quickly confirm this by checking the intel packet and decide that, unless the Astropath is thoroughly unsatisfactory, you want Yasha Saurlance as your Navigator.
With this in mind, you turn to the information on the Saurlance Astropath. Navigator houses do not usually offer the services of Astropaths, despite both being psykers. More than that is outside your knowledge at the moment, although you make a mental note to find out more about psykers at a later date. After wading through the vast majority of the background on Vir Saurlance''s life, you come across an oddity that perhaps explains things: both Vir and Yasha took part in the Kania Incursion, the same skirmish that had broken the Aegis back, and Vir was press ganged into the local Astropathic choir to send the distress message out.
You decide that that particular interesting bit of information deserves more investigation at a later date, and check the clock before heading to the dresser to pick up your formal clothes. It¡¯s time for the negotiations to begin.
Multiple hours of boring diplomacy later¡
You sigh and rub your temples as you make your way back to the landing pad and the shuttle back to the Aegis. The negotiations had gone quite well indeed, and if your first few contracts prosper, you may even be able to leverage your new relation with House Saurlance for Navigators for future ships. The package deal had seemed odd, and House Saurlance was pushing it a tad too eagerly, so you had used that to score a few more concessions than you thought you could have, and pry a bit more information free in the process. It turns out that Yasha and Vir are actual siblings, not just fellow House members, and that the package deal was as much to relieve some stress from the Matron of the House as to get good value for their services. That will have some interesting implications for later, but that will keep.
Once back aboard the Aegis, you return to your cabin and sigh at the new stack of paperwork left on your desk. One is the detailed schematic of the Aegis, along with a summary for your review from Jace. The next is the Helmsman and Master of Ordinance paperwork from earlier, plus a note from Zheeves that the background checks on them have come back clean, and that Helmsman Frank Hopkins and Master of Ordinance Simo Soro have been added to the roster.
The last is a short list of prospective contracts, also from Zheeves. The vast majority are rather dull, but essential to building up a good reputation. Zheeves has also tucked a note at the end of the list indicating that other contracts are available pending the successful completion of this batch.
Chapter 6: All Systems Operational
The weeks fly past as Enginseer Primus Jace finished the repairs, Bosun Morrigan finished recruiting and training the crew, and Executive Officer Zheeves finished hashing out your first contracts, but you do not manage to finagle a live-fire weapons test before you are due to depart for the Altair system. Still, the day is here and everything is loaded and ready. You glance around the bridge from your command throne and grin. It¡¯s time to launch. You touch the microbead in your ear and issue your first order as the Aegis'' Captain, "Enginseering, perform a final pre-launch systems check."
"Aye Aye Sir!" Jace''s voice echoes in your ear.
You lower your hand and glance around the bridge, running through what you know of and have learned about all of the new officers and crew since you finalized the roster.
Jace Echo, your Enginseer Primus. Born and raised on the forgeworld of Kannus, destined for the ranks of the Enginseers almost from birth. He chose the Explorator branch and Specialized in Shipwork after a falling-out over some obscure point of Adeptus Mechanicus Doctrine. Some of that disagreement must have followed him to the stars, because he''d been stuck as a mere Enginemaster despite being the best damned Enginseer you''ve ever seen. He had the Aegis back up and ready to launch inside of five months, beating out the yard-hands initial estimate of nine, and saving hundreds of thousands of Thrones in the process.
Zheeves, your Executive Officer and Treasurer, has served House Von Sebastion since before your birth, and no one could have organised all of the thousands of administrative details any better than he has. Oh, you still had your fair share of paperwork to sign off on, but the vast bulk was simply approving his suggestions.
Morrigan Ni Danann, your Bosun, has proven to be as thoroughly professional and hard bitten as you could have wished. She managed to scavenge her way off her homeworld of Dagda, a deathworld of hyper-aggressive fauna and thoroughly unpleasant flora right into the middle of the Eldarim Incident, where she fought with no small distinction. She had developed a new tic of rolling a Throne around in her newly-restored left hand since getting her new augmetic middle and ring fingers.
Yasha Saurlance, the Navigator, is the only one you have served with before, if only indirectly. Void Born aboard the Pilgrim-ship Shieldmaiden, and completing her schooling just in time for the Daemonic outbreak aboard one of the Shieldmaiden''s sisterships known as the Kania Incursion. The fighting during that incident, and its effect on her brother Vir, have rendered her rather melancholic. But this had not diminished her skill in the slightest, as evidenced by her work in retrieving the Aegis from the edges of the warp-rift in that same system known as the Kania Maw.
Vir Saurlance has had a most interesting career indeed. Born to House Saurlance aboard the Shieldmaiden, but not expressing the Navigator Gene properly, he nevertheless studied alongside his sister. However he was not fully trained when the Kania Incursion broke out and was press-ganged into the local Astropathic Choir to push the distress signal out despite not being properly soul-bound to the emperor at the time. This was remedied in the aftermath of that incident, but its experiences still mark him.
Frank Hopkins, your Helmsman, was Void Born to a shuttle pilot aboard the Jester, a Gothic class Cruiser that was lost in the opening stages of the Eldarim incident. Still quite young, he managed to pilot a transport/cargo shuttle out of the void fight to the relative safety of the Dagda Defense Monitor. He¡¯s still not quite all there in the head, but in the ''crazy like a fox'' sort of way. But if even half of the stories Morrigan and Simo Soro, the Master of Ordinance, have told about his exploits are true, he is one blessed pilot.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Speaking of Simo Soro, you have yet to see a better shot (inside a simulation at least), and he claimed his first kills as a gunmaster on that same Dagda Defense Monitor swatting down Eldar strikecraft during the Eldarin Incident. Interestingly enough, he was assigned to that defense monitor as punishment duty, having been found wanting as a defense station gunner over Kannus, probably over backroom gambling if his card playing skills are any indication; He and Hopkins make for one infuriatingly strong Spades team. Your musings are interrupted by your microbead humming in your ear.
"Enginseering here, all systems green for launch. Power plant at 80% capacity and holding steady. Engines ready to answer Helm Commands."
"Very well. Communications, patch me through to Port Esailla Traffic Control."
"Affirmative" the communications Servitor responds, and patches the proper channel to your microbead.
"Captain Tristan Von Sebation, commanding the Aegis, requesting permission to launch," You request formally.
"Affirmative, Aegis. You are cleared for outbound lane Alpha-Sigma-Four-Nine. Good sailing, and may the Emperor light your path."
"Affirmative ETC. Outbound Vector Alpha-Sigma-Four-Nine. May He guard you as well. Aegis, clear." You cut the transmission and turn to your bridge crew. "Mr. Hopkins, we are cleared to launch. Proceed at will."
Frank never looks up from his controls except to check that the outbound lane is in fact clear of all shuttle and ship traffic. "Aye Aye Sir. Outbound lane Alpha-Sigma-Four-Nine confirmed clear. Proceeding at eighty percent thrust: 288 gravs of acceleration."
And with that absolutely routine announcement, the Aegis is underway under her own power for the first time since her back was shattered.
Several long hours later, the next major hurdle is upon the Aegis: the Warp transit. You turn first to Morrigan to begin issuing the needed commands, "Bosun, secure the ship for Warp transit."
"Aye Aye Sir, I''ll do that thing," she turns to begin issuing her own orders.
"Navigator Saurlance, plot us a transit to the Altair system please. No particular hurry is required."
Yasha bows formally, "Affirmative, Captain." She then turns and enters the Navigators Vestibule at the rear of the Bridge, the hexagramicaly-warded doors sealing behind her. Heavy bulwarks descend over the Bridge''s viewports and a faint offness thrums across your skin as the sensors report the activation of the Gellar field and the Aegis'' transition out of reality and into the warp. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Morrigan give a twitch like a wet dog shaking. You cock an inquisitive eyebrow at her.
"Never get used to transitions, Sir. With your permission, I''ll see to that Transit Detail." And with that, she turns and hurries from the bridge.
You shrug it off for the moment and follow her, throwing the order for Zheeves to take command over your shoulder while you head for your cabin to catch up on some paperwork.
One Day Later...
You are woken from a nap by the semi-familiar offness skittering up your spine that indicates the return to realspace. Your microbead promptly starts to buzz on your bedside table, so you pick it up and put it in. "Captain speaking."
It is Frank, "Officer of the Watch here Sir. Were have returned to realspace and are approaching Altia orbit."
"Very well. I''ll be on the bridge shortly." It has only been a day subjectively, in a trip that usually takes four or five. Either the Emperor was with you indeed, or more likely you have one blessed Navigator aboard. A few minutes later you are entering the bridge as Zheeves finishes talking to Altia Trafic Control. He turns to address you.
"Well Sir, we''ve arrived quite a bit earlier than expected, but Traffic Control has a parking orbit for us." His microbead dings, and he tilts his head to listen, "and just as well Sir, there seems to be a problem with our return shipment of munitions for the Planetary Defense Forces on Viking. According to our local Factor, a corrupt official has managed to lose about a third of the shipment to a local criminal gang."
You scratch your chin in thought for a moment. Aside from blacklisting the official, what else can you do about making up the lost part of the shipment?
Chapter 7: Surgery Prep.
You come to a decision as anger begins to seethe in your belly, "Zheeves, get with our local Factor and its intelligence web. Find out who diverted our shipment and how we can ruin them without drawing any official ire. If at all possible, I want him or her left without a pot to piss in. At the same time, find out where our merchandise has been taken because I intend to lead a cutting-out expedition to get it back. Bosun Morrigan will lead the ground contingent. Mr. Hopkins, you will have the helm of one of our cargo shuttles. It may not be a gunship, but should also draw less attention. Mr. Echo will handle the loading crew. Begin planning on an execution date three days from today followed by our prompt departure back to Viking."
Zheeves snaps a salute and Frank responds with an "Aye AYE Sir!" Clearly your crew likes the idea of dealing with issues like this in a thorough manner. You pass the relevant orders to the Bosun and the Enginseer Primus, and then head for Cargo Bay 7 to get some weapons drill in alongside the armsmen. If you are going to end up in a gun battle, you intend to not make a fool of yourself at the very least!
The two days before the assault pass quickly as your scant free time is taken up with planning and weapons drill. You plan to lead ten armsmen down to Altia, plus Morrigan Ni Dannan, Jace Echo, Frank Hopkins, and yourself of course. Frank and Jace plus four of the armsmen will stay with the shuttle until you secure the merchandise. They will both protect the shuttle and provide a reserve, or a place to fall back on if needed. Yourself, Morrigan, and the other six armsmen will conduct the actual breaching and clearing portions of the operation, and Morrigan has scrounged and purchased accordingly. Rather than be content with the motley kit the armsmen brought along when they got hired, Morrigan has standardized their equipment with lasguns and autopistols acquired locally, along with a half dozen flack vests for the armsmen leading the assault. She herself has Enforcer-grade carapace and is armed with a Hellgun, a overcharged and over-focused lasrifle capable of punching through most body armor. When you suggest that such a weapon is overkill for a bunch of common scum, she simply shrugs and quotes the old saw about overkill, namely that there is no such thing.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Zheeves has managed to locate and isolate the corrupt official in question: a lowly warehouse manager looking to make a few extra Thrones. Come the day of your departure, your local Factor will quietly inform the man''s boss to either find a new warehouse manager or find a new buyer. Combined with a disgruntled co-worker slipping slow-release laxatives into the poor man''s drink, your payback will be complete.
Come the day of the cutting-out expedition, you are faced with a small dilemma: namely which door do you kick in? The criminals have grabbed temporary ''ownership'' of an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the capital to store your merchandise inside. If you had more time, you would consider fast roping through the roof, but you have neither the time to learn how, nor the equipment to do so safely. That leaves simply landing out front, kicking down the front door and walking straight in, at the risk of face-checking into all of the criminals. Or going around back and clearing towards your shuttle parked out front. This will split your forces slightly, but will also split your foes. Bosun Morrigan is fine with either option, so long as you do not split your force any further.
Chapter 8: Cutting-out an Irritant
The day of the assault has arrived, and You and Morrigan have set out with your six armsmen from the local starport in full wargear, headed for the warehouse with your goods in it via a slightly roundabout route to give Mr. Hopkins time to take off again and fly to the warehouse. You make good time, and are soon into position behind the structure, and you decide to give it a good look over before calling in the shuttle.
The warehouse in question resembles three long rectangles set long-side to long-side. The outer two are pure cargo areas, if the piles of boxes and crates visible through the windows are anything to judge by. The center block is all administration, and the only one with its windows blacked out. Kicking in the door will be the only way to find out who is inside, but you recall the maps you''ve studied as well as you can. From the back of the building, there should be a break room, followed by a hallway with three offices on the left and two restrooms on the right, and finally, at the front of the building, a reception area. Given that there are no doorways between the cargo areas and the administration block, and the poor condition of the areas of roof that you can see from the ground, you estimate that most of the criminals will be in the admin block. that may put them in the break room, which means you will be kicking the door down right in their faces.
So you call in the shuttle. Its landing should distract the criminals, pulling a few of them out to see what is going on. This will also put them on alert, but if you time it properly...
Your thoughts cut off, and you Wave Morrigan and her section forward, pointing at the door to the Admin Block. They hurry across the street, and take up positions on either side of the door. You and your own section move up and join them. One of the armsmen kicks a bit of rubble crossing the street, and you can hear someone shout in alarm form the other side of the door. But the shuttle is also landing with a satisfactorily loud mixture of engine whine and thruster roar probably drawing plenty of attention.
Morrigan nods to one of the armsmen, then puts her boot into the door. The resulting crash as the door nearly flies off its hinges into the room is almost immediately drowned out by the armsmen moving in and the rapid pew-pew-pew of their lasrifles. Two criminals are hit and go down; one clutching a blackened and leaking chest, the other the ashen remains of his left leg. Morrigan moves next, her hellgun''s crack-crack-crack cutting through the lighter sounds of the lasrifles. You follow hot on her heels, your foehammer heavy in your hands. Your eyes snap around the room and note seven criminals still standing. With no time for further observations, you snap a shot at the closest foe, and feel the foehammer''s massive recoil and concussive boom shake the teeth in your skull. The criminal goes down, most of his face missing. Another crackle of lasfire and gunfire announces that the crew of the shuttle has engaged the criminals who came to investigate.
The criminals begin to react, pulling revolvers and knives and opening fire. one of your armsmen goes down with a pair of holes in his chest. a hired gun steps from the doorway to the hall with a shotgun in his hand and puts a spray of buckshot into the door frame next to your head, reminding you that standing in the open in the middle of a firefight is typically a bad idea. With no cover in sight, and your foehammer spent for the moment, you shove it back into its holster and dive under a table, upending it. It''s not much in the way of cover, but it¡¯s something you think, drawing Serpent¡¯s Breath. Your armsmen scatter into whatever scant cover that they can find, still pouring on the lasfire. Another criminal goes down, missing most of his right arm. Morrigan just howls from the doorway and blows the shotgunner away, three overcharged lasrounds burning through his torso and throwing him to the ground.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The four remaining criminals snarl their defiance, and begin to make for the hallway, still firing. None of their rounds even come close to hitting you or your armsmen, so you charge the nearest one and cut his right leg away at the knee. Jace comes charging down the hallway, hellgun slung and his Omnisian combi-tool in hands. Morrigan puts another criminal down with a cratered chest. Your armsmen bury the last two criminals in a barrage of lasbolts, and the firefight is over.
You nod thanks to both Morrigan and Jace, and congratulate your armsmen on a job well done. Jace nods his thanks and moves off to begin loading your reclaimed cargo. You tap your commbead online, "Mr. Hopkins, stand by to depart as soon as all of the cargo is loaded and everyone is aboard."
"Aye aye sir. One of the armsmen took a hit, but he''ll live. Engines are hot and I''m scanning comms frequencies in case the local Arbites object to our operations."
"Got it. Let me know if anything else goes awry. Tristan, clear." You turn to Morrigan, "Not bad for our first time out eh?"
Morrigan shrugs, "Should have brought frags and a breaching charge. Tad more noise, but we''d have got all of them right quick. Still and all, what''s done is done, and a fourteen-to-one exchange rate, if you count the ones out front, is nothing to sneeze at. Let''s leave these scum for the rats and get out of here."
There is not much you can do except agree, so you give the warehouse a quick once-over looking for anything extra that might be worth your time, come up empty, and give Jace a hand loading the last of the cargo. A few hours later, and you are back aboard the Aegis and headed out-system. The local Arbites either didn''t notice your little excursion, or chose to ignore it, because they haven''t even bothered you once you broke orbit. One other craft is following the Aegis, a tramp bulk hauler by the name of Golden Butterfly. The Altiar-Viking trade lane is busy enough, but something seems off about the Golden Butterfly. you shrug, and order Navigator Yasha to make warp for Viking. The Golden Butterfly can wait, you''ve a cargo to deliver. The Warp-journey back is thankfully dull and uneventful, and you thank your luck for getting a Nomadic Navigator. Else your warp travels would have been fay more lively and thus dangerous. The Golden Butterfly follows you all the way back to Viking, before reentering the Warp there on a heading for Procyon system. As it vanishes, you get the odd feeling that you will be seeing it again. But there are other things to do, and three contract yet to fulfill.
Chapter 9: Surveying...
A few weeks after returning to the Viking system, the Aegis is unloaded, restocked, refueled, and ready. Zheeves has locked in your contract to update the Hazards to Spacers charts along the Tuatha-Wolf 359 trade route, Morrigan has arranged the acquisition of PDF-grade flack armor for all of your armsmen, as well as fragmentation and anti-armor grenades, but not any breaching charges because she is unsure of how to use them properly. A grenade is one thing: pull the pin and throw at the foe. A breaching charge is one and a half kilograms of directional high-explosive. One mistake using one can bring down a whole building, much less the door or wall you wanted through. She is working on it however, as well as learning all about making explosive devices and such, beginning to develop a deep appreciation for all things that go BOOM.
Your departure goes smoothly, and you have Yasha set course for the Wolf 359 system, being the closer end of the trade route. Much of the work promises to be utterly routine: jump into a system, spend a week scanning everything and making sure it''s all where it is supposed to be, jump to the next system on the list. Accordingly, you leave standing orders to alert you when something inevitably goes pear-shaped while you are off-watch.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
But the down time does provide you a chance to catch up on all of your paperwork, and even to spend time socializing with your subordinates, all of whom (with the exception of Zheeves) you do not know well. And given the time needed to survey all five systems in the route (Wolf 359, Helia, Nesre Secundus, HJG-1034, and Tuatha) plus the long return to Viking, you have enough time to talk to all of them. Dossiers and resumes are fine enough, but they are only paper, not flesh-and-blood, and often miss details that can prove critical.
Chapter 10: Surveying Wolf 359
It was a relatively uneventful warp-journey to the Wolf 359 system. The Aegis made a fast passage with Navigator Yasha Saurlance at the helm but exited the Warp much further out-system than usual, resulting in wasting several days burning in-system before beginning the survey work. It was all quite routine stuff: check that no asteroids were wandering outside their expected belts, the planets were all in their usual orbits, and no additional space stations or debris fields had been added since the last update a half-century ago. You stand your watches dutifully, but much of the ''off-duty'' paperwork is reduced to manageable levels, leaving you with time on your hands. With the less-than-perfect expedition to Altia lurking in the back of your mind, you decide to spend some more time with Morrigan, both to see if you can improve your tactics and skills, and to see if you can learn some more about her. Her twitches upon entering and exiting the warp, and her habitual persistence in overseeing the transit security details are both oddities you decide you need to look into.
With this in mind, you decide to ''wander by'' and train with her on the pistol range. You are still no good with a rifle or shotgun at long range but you are a fair hand with pistols and she never seems to bother with them, so (perhaps foolishly) you decide to challenge her to a pistol competition. It seems the only contest you have a chance of winning, given her demonstrated match in speed and skill but greater strength she has shown in past sparring matches.
You settle on a simple competition: autopistols, human silhouettes, best of seven rounds, each round best score out of ten bullets: kill-shots worth two, wounds one, misses nothing. She takes the first three rounds handily, but you manage to squeeze out the fourth round by a single point, and ace the next two, leaving it all up to a tie breaking seventh round.
Reloading your magazine, you decide to ask Morrigan some probing questions to see if you can put her off her game. An underhanded tactic for sure, but it may also get more information than she is willing to reveal if she chooses to concentrate on her shooting. "Well Morrigan, I admit I didn''t expect you to be quite so good with a pistol. you are always using a hellgun and never carry a sidearm, so why bother keeping up the skills?"
She pauses in her reloading and cocks an eyebrow at you, "Didn''t ye read up on my homeworld of Dagda? It¡¯s a deathworld alright, but it got that classification mostly because of its critters. Pieholes, basically flying snakes with a right nasty bite and a bad habit o'' eating human flesh. Hexatigers and Deepbears, carnivores with big fangs, bigger claws, and fouler tempers. Bloodviper snakes digging into and through anything to keep warm at night. And their littler, meaner cousins: Hellshrikers. They get their name because of the sound you make after the bite you but before the poison finally kills ye. And then there''s the plants. Beautiful but killer, the lot of them. Everybody carries at least a sidearm and a knife as soon as they can walk. But I kept the skills up after the Eldarim incident. Was in a boarding fight with Void Pirates when I lost the originals," she wiggles her augmetic fingers, "to one of the damned bastards. Stabbed him in the guts and left him to bleed out, but took his sidearm. Couldn''t shoot a rifle properly with only one hand, and didn''t figure my chances were so good with just a knife. So I had to figure out to shoot a pistol all over again right quick. The little thing was a bit helpful in that it fired out a hail of sharp discs, so my bad aim was more wasteful of ammo then anything else. But I made a promise to myself that day to not let my skills slip so badly again. Now, are ye gonna finish loading or just gab Tristan?"
You thumb the last cartridge into the magazine, "Nah, there''s a tie to break and bragging rights on the line now. Flip a coin for first shots?" You hold up a one-Throne coin to illustrate you point.
Morrigan shakes her head, "ye get first go, if ye answer one question for me first. How did a dandy like yerself learn how to shoot a sidearm, but not a rifle? Did ye never go hunting or nothing?"
The question throws you for a moment, but only until you remember that Morrigan doesn''t have access to the kind of background information that Zheeves digs up for you on a regular basis. "No, I never went hunting. Spent too much time learning numbers, history, how to make friends, and properly duel foes for that. How else did you think I picked up the fancy footwork to keep up with a woman who could probably bench-press my skinny ass?"
Morrigan laughs and flexes her arms, "Scrawny little scholar eh? No wonder ye can¡¯t hold your drink then. The look on you face after that first sip of whitesnake, ye looked like you had just swallowed a sourbriar tart whole. Ah well, take yer shots then, before ye get to gabbin too much."
You shrug and take your stance at the firing line. Your first four shots go into the target''s chest, but only one winds up a ''killshot'' in the target''s heart. The fifth misses, but only by a little bit. Feeling emboldened, you decide to go for headshots with your final five shots. The first shot punches neatly through the targets nose, but you are over eager, and the seventh, eighth, and ninth shots miss. You take a breath and place your final round of the match through your targets'' left eye. "Nine points, despite four misses. Not terrible, if I do say so myself."This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Morrigan snorts in derision, "I can see why ye favor a foehammer then, despite the fact that the thing can break yer wrists if ye use it wrong. Harder to miss with it. My turn." She places her first six rounds into the target''s chest, four of them into its heart. Her seventh and eighth miss, the cost of rushing the shots, but the ninth round finds the chest, and the tenth the targets head. "Think I take this contest, so why don''t we get down to why ye came down here in the first place eh? A shipmaster doesn''t just ''stop by'' without another motive in mind, and yer question earlier means yer trying to find out more about my past, the kind of things book-learning can''t cover. But I won the contest, so ye will be answering as many questions as ye ask. Bosun''s got a right to know what kind of Shipmaster she is serving under."
Fair is fair you think, and so ask you first question with care, "How did a Deathworlder girl get onto a Defense Monitor? I thought those things didn''t carry many marines, much less local levies."
Morrigan sits down on a handy crate and pulls out a flask, "Replacement for a couple of amad¨¢n that got drunk and picked a fight on shore leave. Idiots pulled knives on a man and tried to take his money, but old Lutcha was having none of that and pitched ''em right through a store window. Shore Patrol showed up looking for them the next day and signed on volunteers when they found ''em dead. I went along because I''d always felt a need to wander the stars. Void pirates showed up the next week, and that was that. How about ye? How''d a scholar end up owning a ship?"
You find a seat of your own, "That''s a much longer tale, but the gist of it is that my Family, the Von Sebastions, has always been heavily into trade. I was training to take on management of one of out business factors, but I had to finish my thesis first." Seeing Morrigan''s slightly confused look, you explain, "A big final work to show that you have mastered everything that your teachers have been trying to teach you. With my Family''s connections, I hitched a ride to write down details about the past of the frigates caught in the edges of the Kania Maw. Little risky if I do say so myself, but they were rumored to be old and storied ships. Little did I know, but the ship I was aboard was there to do more than just survey work, it was there to pull the Aegis out of the Maw and get her back into service. When the boarding parties had declared her safe, I went aboard to study what I could of her logs, to learn of her past. The voyage back to Viking aboard her was... not pleasant, but she did have a rather storied past indeed, so I set out to make her mine after turning in my thesis. Better to walk the stars then sit in an office all day filling out forms. little did I know that they would follow me into space as well! But what is with the shudder and devotion to duty while we are in the Warp? More leftovers form the Eldarim incident?"
Morrigan nods, and takes a large swallow form her flask before answering, "Aye, you could say that. The void pirates jumped in right on top of us, and I''ve no idea how we didn''t get flung into the warp. Maybe because they were coming instead of going? I''ve no idea, better to leave that to them as can stare into the warp and not go barking mad. Why did ye trust me to pick out a Helmsman and Master of Ordinance anyway?"
You blink at her abrupt shift in topic, and decide that there is more of a story there, but Morrigan really doesn''t want to share it. That being the case, you decide to answer her question and go prying at a later date, or perhaps have Zheeves do the prying. "That was mostly Zheeves. He has worked with and for me and my House for a long time, so I trusted him to pick out or pick through your selections for each of the crew positions. He did a background check on Simo and Frank, found nothing that would get then into trouble and that they had the skills you had claimed, and approved them. I think the fact that they were willing to sign up played a part too, we''re not exactly swimming in Thrones after all of the effort I put into getting the Aegis."
Morrigan does a spit-take at your last line. "Not swimming in Thrones? I''m getting almost five thousand a month! That''s enough to buy a house, land, and live fat and happy for a year back on Dagda."
You nod, "Aye, and we made almost six hundred thousand Thrones, after paying everyone, just on that last cargo run. Getting our merchandise back was more for honor''s sake than the value of the kit. Well, that and the Planetary Defense Force probably wouldn''t be happy with heavy weapons floating around in the hands of gangsters and scum. Speaking of, how would you have gone about that raid? you mentioned something about breaching charges and frag grenades...?"
Morrigan nods. "Aye. I''d have had someone look over that place for a week at least. If we had to go in, you picked the right entry points at least. Otherwise I''d have waited until they were fast asleep before knocking down the door. Probably wouldn''t have used a breaching charge unless I had a Demolitions Woman to hand, didn''t want to bring the whole place down. But block off the front door, picket the windows, and kick in the back works well enough most times. Frags in a small room, particularly if the scum are still waking up and the door is banging off the hinges, tends to result in a short fight though. Hard on the clean-up crew, but easy on the shooters."
Your microbead chirps, so you decided to wrap it up, "That was Zheeves, we''re due to enter the warp for the Helia system in a few hours. Thanks for the advice though, and for tracking down those grenades. Next time we have to shoot someone or blow up a building, you get to lead the way, there is much I can learn from you."
Morrigan takes one last swig before standing up and heading out, "Aye. I''ll see to the transit detail then."
Chapter 11: Surveying Helia
The Warp journey from Wolf 359 to Helia goes smoothly, though Navigator Yasha does order an inordinate number of course changes, as if tacking the Aegis back and forth against a headwind. She manages to hold the Aegis close enough to that ''headwind'' that it feels like the deck is shaking underfoot at times, the immaterial winds of the warp literally buffeting the hull. But nothing ill occurs during the journey, and Yasha places your exit from the Warp right on top of your first survey waypoint, allowing the work to begin as soon as your sensors clear.
With all of the hull-shaking that happened over the latest Warp transit, you decide that it would be a good idea to speak with Jace Echo, your Enginseer Primus, and check up on the state of the ship. Querying the Aegis'' internal sensors, you find him down in the Hydroponics Workshop. As you enter a few minutes later, you find Jace hard at work on some sort of small robot. He looks up as you enter, "Good afternoon, Sir. What brings you down into the maintenance areas?"
"I was just looking for you actually. Hows the Aegis doing? that last warp transit didn''t knock anything loose did it?"
"Nothing major Sir. Oh, some minor nuts and bolts like this little cleaning robot here, but all major systems are fully functional. The Aegis is one built ship, and it shows. Where did you find her, if I may ask?"
"At the fringe of the Kania Maw, but I knew before I set about acquiring the Aegis that she had history. My Thesis was on her history, and I accompanied the recovery effort as part of completing it. I know the Aegis served with distinction in the cleanup of the Eldarim Incident, and fought well during the Kania Incursion, but not much is on-record other than that. I was hoping to dig into her data-logs to find more."
Jace nods his head, "The Aegis is even older than you know, Sir. Although she has been rebuilt at least twice and refitted many more times, her bridge, life sustainers, and targeting matrix are all originals. Mark one, Mod zero diaspora-era originals forged in low martian orbit by the proof marks. Any ship with one of those venerable systems would be blessed. One with three of them must surely have been built in that legendary time. To serve aboard a ship such as the Aegis is a dreamstuff of any Enginseer worth his Iron, and to be Enginseer Primus of one..." Jace trails off and you can hear the reverence and awe in his voice.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"That old? Surely there are better and more modern systems available!"
"Yes and no. There are more modern systems available that can match the performance, but they are all the way back on Mars, not out here on the edge of Imperial space. There are also more powerful systems available, but nothing that would fit in or on the Aegis'' hull. The auspex arrays fitted to an Imperator-class battleship, for example, but those would never fit into or on a frigate''s hull." Jace returns to fixing the cleaning robot.
"So how did you end up a mere Enginemaster? You had the Aegis fixed up faster than anyone else would claim to be able to do."
Jace visibly pauses in his work, processing the question, "Doctrinal dispute. Adeptus Mechanicus version of political infighting, but with fewer assassinations. I think. Short version of the story was that I was talented enough to be headed for the ranks of Enginseers from the beginning. Fairly standard ''Child of the Omnissiah'' early life, same as most other initiates into the Adeptus Mechanicus, but I ran afoul of one Magos Alieus Rex. Dogmatic Hardliner who wouldn''t even locally manufacture parts, much less bless a macgyvered repair until such parts could be made. So I transferred from a Heavy Industry Specialist to the Explorators, and wound up assigned to the Aegis. The rest you know, Sir."
Your microbead decides that now would be a good time to start buzzing. You hold up a finger to Jace and tap the microbead, "Tristan here, go ahead."
"Zheeves here Sir. The Golden butterfly just jumped into the system."
"The Golden Butterfly? What in the Warp is she doing here?"
Jace visibly jerks at the name, "Sir, may I recommend that we get a good scan of that ship. Something is not right with her."
You cock an eyebrow at Jace, "and what makes you say that? So far, she has only followed us back from Altiar to Viking. Odd enough to sail in so close company to another ship, I will grant you, but hardly a reason to get a hull map of her."
"Because Sir, the last time I saw the Golden Butterfly, Alieus Rex was her Shipmaster. And the Golden Butterfly''s course out of Viking was to Procyon, where we know a void pirate is operating. Why would a Dogmatic Magos in good standing be headed out to a pirate-infested system, much less in a cargo vessel? Something is not right here Sir."
Chapter 12: The Golden Butterfly
You nod to Jace and tap your microbead again, "Zheeves, see if we can get a scan of the Golden Butterfly. Don''t go so far as to be obvious about it though."
"Affirmative Sir. We''ll continue our survey work for the moment, as the Golden Butterfly should cross our path on her outbound leg. We''ll get our scans then. You think she might be our void pirate out of the Procyon System?"
"It¡¯s possible. She could also be a covert supply craft for the real combat ships though, or simply a captured ship. The scan should tell us more. Tristan, clear." You turn to face Jace, "when we get those scans, I would appreciate your input. Any notable modifications, oddities, so forth. You probably know more about ship construction than anyone else aboard and you have seen the Golden Butterfly before."
Jace nods, and resumes working on the cleaning robot.
Several days later, after the Golden Butterfly has left the Helia system and the Aegis is headed for the warp lane to Nesre Secundus.
You, Frank, and Jace are standing around the holotable at the back of the bridge. Simo would also be present, but he is covering Frank at the helm. Displayed on the table are the scans you picked up of the Golden butterfly, and Jace has tagged several areas in yellow, indicating points of interest. Both of the ship''s weapon systems are illuminated, as are several area of hull-plating. Jace points first to the hull-plating sections, "these are new. Last I saw the Golden Butterfly, she had banks of extra thrusters to improve her less than impressive maneuverability. They don''t take up any space inside the hull, but can be real power-hogs. Now, she has bare armor plate in those locations. My guess is that extra power has been diverted to her weapon systems, which have also been overhauled." He gestures to the heavy turrets along the Golden Butterfly''s dorsal spine, "These are new entirely, and probably where the power is being diverted to. Rhyza-pattern Plasma Macro-Turrets: shorter ranged than our own Sunsear Lasers by almost a factor of two, but packing a bit more firepower and a nasty habit of vaporizing subsystems and backups. If the Golden Butterfly gets these into range, they can inflict a lot of hurt." Jace gestures to the prow next, "and combined with this chin-mounted Titanforge Lace, the Golden Butterfly is mounting a lot more firepower than any tramp freighter should be. In fact, she is paying a heavy penalty in power consumption and available space just to mount those weapons. If she is our void pirate, she will be a nasty handful within her weapons reach, and her hull is slightly more durable than ours, but we have a decisive advantage in speed, maneuverability, and weapons range."Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
Frank nods, "the usual tactics for running down a pirate are to get up close and hammer away at the engines. Prevent them from running so you can either board them or pound them into scrap at your leisure. Not going to work well for us this time, however. I am concerned about her weapons load-out however. If she sets her teeth into us, she can inflict a lot of damage, and a lot of critical damage in a hurry. We will have to balance keeping her in range while staying out of the range of her own batteries. Given that we cannot fire our weapons astern, she can keep turning inside us to close the range. On the other hand, she will suffer from the same problems. If we can get on her stern, we should be able to stay there. And should she try to run, we have twice her speed in reserve."
Jace nods in agreement, "the Vagabond-class freighters are not known for either speed, maneuverability, or the strength of their sensors. We should be able to spot her first and asses the situation before engaging."
It is your turn to nod, "all well and good gentlemen, but we need to confirm that the Golden Butterfly is our prey before we start blowing holes in her hull. I''ll have Zheeves put out feelers looking into her, and we should have some information on her by the time we get back to Viking. In the meantime, we have three more systems to survey."
Chapter 13: Surveying Nesre Secundus
The Warp journey from Helia to Nesre Secundus is far from uneventful: the turbulence from your previous transit is back with a vengeance, complete with the screech of over-stressed metal. At one point, the Aegis slows precipitously, and the dull crunch of crumpling deckplates can be heard. You quickly grab your microbead, "Jace, what just broke and how soon can we fix it?"
"Internal sensors are showing hull damage around Cargo Hold 13. Unable to survey damage at this time: will monitor and attempt repairs once we exit the Warp."
"Commander, Helm here. We bounced off a shoal of some sort. Came out of nowhere, but it¡¯s behind us now. I''ve already reduced speed to give the Navigator a tad more time to spot any more of them. Hopkins, clear."
"Jace, you heard mr. Hopkins. Keep an eye on the Gellar Field in addition to the hull damage. If we lose that, the hull won''t survive direct contact with the Warp for long."
"Affirmative Sir. Gellar Field is holding strong at the moment. I will advise you should that change. Jace, clear."
Slowing down cost you almost a full day, but it means that the Aegis made it through with no further damage. Jace sets about assessing the damage while the rest of the crew gets on with the survey work. With matters well in hand, and mr. Hopkins taking the bridge shift, you decide to stop by Simo''s quarters to see if he can teach you how to play Spades. To your mild surprise, Simo is more than willing.
"More players makes for a more interesting game. Frank knows all of my gambits, and I his, so a head to head with him is more to kill time than anything else. Morrigan gave up trying to play long ago, but she''ll drink us both under the table one after the other. Now, where''d that deck go?" He produces a slightly battered deck of cards from a drawer and gestures for you to take a seat across a small felt-topped table. You do so and he sits down and starts to count off the cards, making sure the deck is complete. "Surprised you don''t know more about Spades. Guess your more of a poker type?" Hew cocks an eyebrow and begins to shuffle.
"Solitaire, actually. Spades is a bidding game though?"
Simo winces at the question, "Trick-taking. The deck gets dealt out, and everyone playing gets a look at their cards. Then everyone places a bid as to how many rounds, called tricks, they think they can win in that hand. Man to the dealer''s left leads off by laying down a card, and everyone else follows on ''till everyone has played a card. Winner is whomever played the highest spade, or if no spades were played, the highest card in the suit the first guy lead off with. Guy who wins the trick leads off the next one. Big catch is that you can''t play a spade unless you can''t match the suit that was lead, and can''t lead off with a spade unless a spade was played in the last trick or you¡¯ve got nothing but in your hand."
"So what''s with the bidding then? A way to keep score?"
"If you are playing for points. Make your bid and you score ten for every trick you bid and every extra trick is only worth one. If you don''t make your bid, then you get nothing. Games are usually to five-hundred points, but if one is just killing time, then the cards are just something for your hands to do while talking. Speaking of, why in blazes would you play on your lonesome instead of with others?"If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"Too busy learning how to make money. Where did you first learn to play?"
Simo starts dealing out cards, "Between work shifts on Kannus, before I got my hand stuck in some gears. Got lucky though, could''ve ended up dead. Trade-off was the doc patching me up wasn''t quite right in the head. He screwed up and had a defense gunner wind up dead on his table with a mangled leg and arm. So he decided to cover his own ass by taking my leg off and putting a machine-link in my head. Lucky for him, I turned out to be a damn good shot. Not so lucky for him, he fucked up the paperwork. Cogboys found out, took a look at my training scores, and stuck my ass on that Defense Monitor out in Dagda."
You pick up your cards and start sorting them out, "any idea what happened to him?"
Simo snorts and picks up his own cards, "nope. Probably got stuck on my shift down on the line. I''ll walk you through the first few hands if you want."
A few hours and hands later¡
You pitch in a junk card, forfeiting a trick you couldn''t take anyway, "So what in the warp happened in the Eldarim Incident? Morrigan says you got jumped on and boarded, but not much more. Was it bad?"
Simo shakes his head, "Can''t tell you much more than that myself. I was mind-linked into the guns, staring out the gun sights deaf, blind, and dumb to what was going on elsewise. Course that meant I got a good look at the launch-bays of the void pirates when they jumped in and started dumping out boarding craft. Didn''t have enough firepower to do more than scratch the paint on their hull, but the boarding craft were another matter. Blew away a good number of them and got the launch bay too for good measure, but I guess I just pissed ''em off. ''Fore too long they were knocking on the bridge hatch and Frank yanked my link out and handed me a sidearm. From there, everything is a right mess. No idea what happened, aside from the fact that we had hoarfrost crawling up the bulkheads and Morrigan showed up at some point bleeding like mad and cursing them out something fierce."
You take the trick, and decide to change the subject, "so how did you end up on Viking, and why sign on with me?"
Simo grunts and takes another trick, "declared dead when the ship blew up, along with Frank and Morrigan. We were actually on an escape pod headed down to Dagda, I think. Most of that week is a mess in my head between the jump-in and the bad jack-out. By the time I got everything squared away, we were headed for Viking. Morrigan signed us up for your crew because the pay is good, and only looking to get better."
You nod and take a trick, "Looks to be that way. I assume you saw the scans we got of the Golden Butterfly? What do you think, could we take her in a fight?"
Simo tosses in a bad card and scratches his chin, "With Frank at the helm and myself on the guns? Yes. The Sunsears are good weapons and should chew that tramp right up."
"What about taking her intact? You think we could pull that off?"
"Possible, but risky. I''d have to get lucky and put her engines out early to be sure of it, or take her guns out completely. Else it''d come down to a boarding action, and that''d mean coming in close where her guns might get lucky. The Aegis is a smaller ship, but she has more crew for a boarding fight given that the Golden Butterfly is a cargo hauler."
You nod and take the last trick of the hand, "barring any complications like murder-servitors or combat robots. That would ruin our day rather quickly."
Chapter 14: Arrival at HJG-1034
The Warp journey from Nesre Secundus to HJG-1034 is clear sailing, until it isn''t. You have the bridge for the last stage of the journey, and manage to get a front row seat to your near destruction at the hands of fate.
Yasha''s voice snaps over the intercom, "Warp Storm dead ahead. Stand by for emergency revision to real-space."
Jace''s voice comes in, flat and hard with fear, "Warp Engine ready for revision in three minutes."
Frank''s voice is level and even, his fear locked behind adamantine concentration, "Navigator, call the dance."
Yasha comes back, "Polar south, and burn plasma. There is an area of relative stability there.¡±
"Polar south it is. Engines to full power. Jace, cut the Warp Engine as soon as practicable."
Seven thundering beats of your heart later, Jace pulls it off, "Emergency revision in Two, One, NOW.¡±
The view beyond the viewports changes from the flash-flicker-freeze madness of the warp storm to the cold black of the void in sync with the bottom dropping out of your stomach and your heart skipping a beat. But your troubles are just beginning, because you have managed to revert to realspace in dangerously close proximity to the only notable infrastructure in the system: A ruined and abandoned shipyard shrouded in debris. And your engines are still burning at full thrust. Before you can so much as open your mouth, Frank is already maneuvering.
"Ah, bugger. Everybody, hang on to something! Jace, engines to twenty percent power and burn retros, we need to shed speed now. Going to an evasive heading."
Your stomach is recovering, "Frank, get us out of here, best possible route."
Franks grin is manic now, "engines to eighty percent power Jace, and stand by damage control. Best way out of this mess is through. Simo, target anything big enough to wreck us down this corridor."
He paints a path on the navigation display, and your bowels clench. It goes right through the center of a battleship slip, still occupied by a luckless half-finished hull. Simo doesn''t even nod, he just plugs in his spinal jack and gets to work with his triggers. You can feel the Sunsear Turrets start to sing out, vibrating the hull with volley after volley, and you watch debris turn into hyper-velocity shrapnel in short order.
"Bridge, Jace here. Void shields at thirty percent and failing. These shrapnel and micro-meteors are going to tear us up inside of two minutes."
"Frank, Simo, you heard him. Find or make us a clear path."
Frank nods, "Engines to eighty-two percent, and over-burn the dorsal thrusters. Need to get under this slipway door..."
Simo smacks his augmetic hand on the console, "Number Two Turret just overheated and shut down. Jace, get a damage control party up there, I need it back quick."
"Already dispatched. Void shields at two percent and KRA-KOOM scratch that, void shields GONE."
Simo puts a dent into the console with his second hit, "Number One Turret is down. No signal from the on-mount sensor."
You glance out the viewport, "Probably because of the pinnace crashed into it. Frank, we''ve no guns and no shields. How much longer?"
Frank doesn''t bother to respond, "cut engines two, five, seven, and over-burn port thrusters." The result of the last course change puts the Aegis in a hard turn to starboard just in time to avoid crashing into the side of the half-finished battleship. But Frank is laughing like a madman, "all engines to zero, burn retros, over-burn fore starboard thrusters. And...DONE! Engines and thrusters to station keeping! In orbit and clear of the debris field, Sir."This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"Frank, remind me to buy you a drink next time we are in port. In the meanwhile, I''m going to check on Yasha.¡±
It is nearly a day later before Yasha recovers from the revision enough to speak coherently. When you see her, you are shocked to see that she has drawn her headband down over her regular eyes in addition to the Navigator''s Eye in the middle of her forehead. "Yasha, what happened?"
"It was the Warp Storm. I made the mistake of opening my regular eyes in addition to my Navigator''s Eye, and now my eyes are pained by bright lights. I should be back up and functional by the time we are ready to leave the system however. Dare I ask what happened after we left the Warp? I can''t remember much."
You take a seat at her bedside, "We exited much to close to the old shipyard, but Frank managed to steer us out of too much danger. Jace already has the void shields back online, but the Sunsears are going to take longer to fix. Jace plans on an expedition to the shipyard for extra parts and materials. How are you feeling?"
"Awful. First was that bad return to realspace outside Wolf 359, way to far out-system. Then was that headwind on the Helia run, and then I put us onto a shoal on the Nesre Secundus run. And now this; I was blind enough to steer the Aegis headfirst into a Warp Storm violent enough that I should have seen coming. I feel like a blunt groundsider on a bad batch of bliss-out."
"Yasha, you have no reason to thrash yourself over this much! You got us to Altair and Wolf 359 in damn near record times, dropped the Aegis right on our first waypoint in Helia, managed to avoid gutting us on the shoals, and gave enough warning to avoid the worst of the Warp Storm. Not to mention the fact that you got the Aegis back to Viking when all she had was a Gellar field, two-thirds of a hull, and a few auxiliary thrusters for propulsion. You are the best Navigator I have ever served alongside, bar none."
"I still feel like a lump of meat at the moment."
"You are much more than that. Tell you what, you are feeling like crap because you are having problems navigating right?" Yasha nods, uncertain where you are heading, "Then how about you accompany Jace, Morrigan, Frank, and myself when we head into the space station? You helped get the Aegis back into working order, and we could use someone who can sense the warp. It''ll get you off-ship to stretch your legs at the least."
Yasha nods again, "Yes. I think I would like that. Vir will probably want to accompany us as well if I go however."
You grin, although you are unsure if Yasha can see it, "Very well Navigator, welcome to the Away Team. I''ll leave you to keep recovering and check on Jace, see if he has any idea how were are going to to get ship components back aboard."
A few minutes later, down in the Plasma Drive control area.
"Here is the ship status update you asked for Sir."
You take the dataslate and give it a glance, "well Jace, any idea how we are supposed to get replacement Sunsear components back aboard?"
Jace scratches the back of his head, "to be honest sir, we''re probably going to have to tow them behind the shuttle, or better yet between two shuttles. Upsides are that we don''t have to take the Aegis back in close and that the components can be hauled up into position easily. Downside is that it will be slow and tricky. I think I''ve got a route plotted that avoids the worst of the debris stirred up in our wake, but I''ll triple-check it with Frank. On a side note however, scans are showing something rather interesting, If you are willing to spend the time to investigate it."
You cock an eyebrow, "What kind of ''interesting'' Jace? The kind that will get us killed, or the kind that will make us rich?"
Jace shrugs, "the chance for both outcomes is non-zero, of course, but we have a chance to not just repair our Sunsears, but upgrade them as well. In the short term, we can pull mars-grade components out of that half-finished battleship. That will at least improve the quality of our Sunsears, and possibly turbo-charge them. The Aegis can''t pump the power needed to fire full-up battleship weapons, but I may be able to tinker the focusing lenses into place, which would double our range easily. Long term, we might be able to repair and complete the battleship entirely, scavenging most of the station in the process. if the parts I''d need are not aboard, I can probably make them over there; it is a shipyard after all.
Your eyebrowss are all but glued to your hairline, "you are telling me that we could get a battleship operational?"
Jace nods, "yes, given sufficient time. I have no idea as to the legal aspects, but I can get the ship itself up and void worthy."
You let out a wolf-whistle, "I think I can sic Zheeves on the paperwork, but we have a few other things to do first, like finishing our current contracts. Long term, we can drop you off with whatever support and supplies you need and an astropath to keep us informed. For now, go cross-check that flight plan with Frank."
Chapter 15: Delving Deeper
Frank had verified the flight plan, and cleared Simo as the pilot of the second shuttle. Surprisingly Vir Saurlance took one look at the mission and politely declined to accompany the Away Team, despite the presence of Yasha.
"It will be good for my little sister to get off-ship. She spends too much time staring at bulkheads and the warp and worrying about me. I have made peace with what happened, and she needs to do so as well. But if you come back without her, I WILL end you.¡±
You grin and grasp his shoulder, "I would expect nothing less from any brother worth his blood."
Vir grins and shoos you away, "Best get going Sir, before Jace starts poking things he shouldn''t be."
You laugh and head for the shuttle. It needs a better name than Aegis Cargo One if it''s going to be hauling the Away Team around on a semi-regular basis. Perhaps the Swallow? You almost trip over a tracked probe zipping across the deck, and then narrowly avoid running into Jace.
"Sorry Sir, one of the CATs came online a tad early. I''ll have it stowed away momentarily!" He runs off after the CAT before it can get too far away. You regain your balance and head for the Swallow, where Morrigan is pouring over what maps and scans you have.
"Morrigan, any better idea of how we''re going to get to wherever it is we need to go?"
Morrigan scratches at the edge of her crow tattoo, "yes and no Tristan. Jace has indicated that we need to get here," she points at a spot on the map just behind the Battleship''s unfinished forward port broadside, "so that he can get to work unplugging whatever it is he needs to unplug. After he''s finished, Frank and Simo will pilot the shuttles to just outside the hull, Jace attaches cables, and they tow it away. What I''m less sure of is our path. Jace tells me that the CATs will find a path for us, but I''m not so sure how they''re going to do that."
Jace walks past with the runaway CAT in his hands, "Easy enough. CATs are fairly simple machines: tracks, a motor to move them, a camera so the operator can see where it¡¯s going, a beacon to follow its position, and a basic protocol to move them about. Go forward until it runs into something it cannot pass, then turn ten degrees left and repeat. I''ll be letting about a score of them lose at our entrance point, and another ten or so once we get to the work site. They will wander about mapping the ship and scouting ahead for us. fortunately, the ship is complete enough, and undamaged enough, to still hold atmosphere in most places. I''m hoping that I can find out more about her once aboard, some of the architecture is familiar, but other parts not so much."
You nod, "keep in mind that you are going to wind up back here for a long period of time finishing that battleship at some point Jace. Might it be a good idea to send some of the CATs into what''s left of the station?"
Jace shakes his head, "too much chance of awakening anything aboard the station to do so now, perhaps when we are ready to leave."
Morrigan looks thoughtful, "so I can count on my maps being updated as we progress by more than just our own eyes. That does change things. With the CATs to pathfind, we can use a convoy deployment instead of splitting up trying to find a path. I''ll take point with two armsmen, four more armsmen will act as a rearguard. The remaining armsmen and the Away Team will form the convoy''s main body. There is atmosphere, but don''t count on it being breathable everywhere after so many years, so I''ve brought along breath masks for everyone."
You study the maps for a moment before agreeing, "that sounds more than workable. Everyone have everything they need before we depart?"
Morrigan juts grins and taps the but of her hellgun. Frank shrugs and picks up a lascarbine, while Simo pats the wooden stock of a bolt action rifle. Yasha nods, fingering the hilt of an elegant laspistol bearing the Saurlance crest. Jace pauses and flicks his Omnissian Combi-tool through a self-test pattern before indicating his readiness. With no further fanfare, you indicate the shuttles and everyone starts to board.
One sphincter-clenching shuttle flight later¡
Morrigan has everyone wait in close proximity to the the shuttles while Jace''s CATs set off into the darkness. Fifteen minutes later she starts out, "Jenkins, Leroy, with me. Moe, Larry, Shemp, Curly, ye four have rearguard. Let''s move."
Two minutes later, You lead off with the main body of the ''convoy'', Jace whistling a jaunty tune despite the dark and gloom of the hallways. Simo cocks an eyebrow and listens for a moment, "Where did you learn the Kannus working songs?"
Jace breaks off his tune, "Working Heavy Industry before transferring to the Explorators. It seemed appropriate, somehow."
Simo nods, then brings his rifle to his shoulder as you enter a high-vaulted chamber. A cathedral, if the pews are anything to judge by. Jace''s servo-lamp rises on high, casting a spotlight through the cobwebs and gloom to illuminated the statuary behind the altar. Your breath catches in your throat, and Yasha thumbs her palm at the sight. Frank breaks the silence first, "is that...? Is this...?"
Simo whispers, "Skin made of iron..."
Jace finishes the phrase, his voice ringing in the silence "...steel in our bones. Sir, this is no battleship. This is an Ark Mechanicus."
You glance back at the enormous statue. Easily thirty-four feet high, and standing atop a twenty-one foot pillar, is a cast adamantium representation of a heavily augmented man. His face is a half ''flesh'' and half cogs and gears, his torso is riddled with induction and interface ports. Both of his outstretched arms become obviously mechanical at the shoulder, as does his torso from the waist downwards. "so what does this mean Jace? Can we get the components we need? And can we still get it operational in the fullness of time?"If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Jace nods slowly, "yes, and yes. But this ship would never have been abandoned except under the most dire of circumstances. And even then she would have been scuttled, her reactors set to overload rather than be allowed to fall into the hands of any foes. Something very wrong is going on here. " he breaks off long enough to activate his microbead, "Morrigan, move with extra caution. This ship should never have been abandoned intact like this."
"Given what I''ve found down here, I''d think the same. the bulkheads are warped and slagged, as if they were half-melted. Not to mention the bodies and bones I''ve seen in some of the side halls. They look, well, eaten."
Yasha''s head snaps around to look at you, "Tristan, we need to move quickly. I can feel something stirring in this ship''s bones. Something not of reality."
You clench your teeth and breathe deeply, settling your nerves, "right. Sooner started, sooner done. Simo, Frank; back to the shuttles. Get them voidborne and follow us down the outside of the ship. Morrigan, get the rest of us to the objective. ''Convoy'', tighten up on me, we''re moving at speed. Rearguard, close up. Let''s move people."
Jace and Simo both make the sign of the cog towards the altar and you all hurry off, nerves tightening with every step.
Two hours, three detours, and a fair bit of profanity later, your ''convoy'' arrives at the back of the port forward broadside. The breach end of the lance arrays gleams with hoarfrost and condensation. Morrigan arranges the armsmen into a rough perimeter around the back of one of the weapons while Jace un-crates and unleashes the last of his CATs. Yasha is holding up well, although she spends a fair amount of time staring at the shadows. Your microbead crackles with an incoming signal.
"Simo here, Frank and I are in position and ready to haul metal."
"Confirmed Simo. Tristan, clear." You walk over to Yasha and lay a hand on her shoulder, "How are you holding up?¡±
Yasha draws a deep breath before answering, "Well. This ship seems, well, aware of our presence. But I have felt no malice, nor offence at our presence or activities. It''s almost as if it knows that we are here, and wants up to succeed. It wants to sail again. It feels almost welcoming, an isle of stability amidst a storm. But there is something darker on the station. I''m not sure how to describe it, I''ve never felt the like. A hole? A filled nothingness? It isn''t of reality, nothing with a psychic signature that strong is, but I know not what it could be."
You frown in thought as Jace sets to work, "Yasha, the presence on the station, could it be from a dweller in the Warp?¡±
Yasha shakes her head, "No. I have felt those lurking in the warp, and they feel nothing like this. They all but bleed emotions, desires, hatreds. This, this is nothing but a hungry shadow."
You cock your head in thought for a moment, "thanks Yasha. If its not human, and not of the warp, then it has to be xenos. some sort of alien, or group of them, is putting out that effect. And in that case, Frank or Simo may know more." You tap your microbead, "Frank, Simo, have any of you heard of a xenos that puts out ''A hungry shadow'' in the Warp?"
"Simo here. The only Xenos I know of that puts out a ''shadow in the warp'' would be the Tyranids. But we''d know of any of them in the sector, there would be warfleets and armies everywhere."
"Frank here. Perhaps it¡¯s the splinter of a fleet that got left behind and went dormant? It would explain the eaten bodies Morrigan saw in the passageways."
"That sounds plausible. Anything else?"
"Simo here. If it is a dormant splinter or nest, then we do not want to wake it up. The Aegis has no guns, and no body of trained armsmen for a pitched battle. Boarding actions or hit-and-runs, sure. Full-on pitched war? No way."
"Frank here. There might be another way, but that would be something for later. If we had a small Atomic, we might be able to scuttle the station without breaking the slip open. It would cost up all of the salvage on the station itself, plus the cost of the atomic, but..."
You butt in, "and would increase the cost of repairing the Ark because of that lost salvage. But calling in someone to help us clear the station would mean that they might have a claim on the Ark too. Thanks for the input guys, Jace looks to be about ready to cut the first focusing array free. Tristan, clear." You close the connection, but keep thinking the issue over. This is definitely a problem for later, and one with far too many teeth to approach carelessly. suddenly, an idea strike you, "hey Jace! Do you think the Mechanicus would take the station and whatever salvage is aboard it in exchange for the Ark?"
Jace looks up from removing the securing bolts off another focusing array, "not a chance in the Warp if they knew it was an Ark Mechanicus, not for just the station."
"What about a Magos Biologis? Would one of them be more interested in the Tyranids aboard the station than any ships left behind?"
Jace pauses at that, "perhaps. But we''d want to be well clear when they inevitably woke the Tyranids up. I have heard rumors about a group they sometimes work with. Magos Rex was grumbling about their interference one time, when he didn''t know I was within earshot. Something about delving into knowledge that mankind wasn''t supposed to have."
"Would this group have a name, and would they deal over the station?"
"I do not know the name, but I did see an insignia, perhaps. A black ship with a triple-barred I on the prow pulled in for refit and took several Magos Biologis aboard not long before Rex started kernel panicking about interference." Jace shrugs and resumes loosening the focusing array, "It¡¯s a starting place, anyway."
You agree, "I''ll have Zheeves start looking for information quietly. Very quietly. In the meantime, how much longer do we need to be here?"
Jace stands up and backs away from the focusing array, "not long at all. If you all will fall back to the hallway and seal the bulkhead, I can vent the atmosphere from this room and eject the needed components for Simo and Frank to tow back. Then one of them can come back and pick us up, and I can start work on the Aegis."
An hour and a half later, back at your initial landing area¡
Nearly everyone is back aboard the shuttles, but Yasha is hesitant to leave. She stands still for a moment, one hand against a dusty bulkhead, and closes her eyes. Hoarfrost begins to form at her fingertips, and you can see Morrigan''s eyes go wide before she hustles back aboard Aegis Cargo Two. a few moments later, Yasha''s eyes open and she withdraws her hand from the bulkhead.
"Yasha, is there something I need to know about? what just happened?"
"I asked Ark its name and past. Most of it is fragmentary, but two things came through clear enough. The Ark was to be called the Terra Incarnadine, and she was never completed because of a foe armed with claw and fang. In exchange, I left a promise that I would return, if I could, and sail her across the stars."
You can only nod at that. After all, what can one say to a Mistress of the Navigator''s Art about that art if one is not a Navigator? You gesture to the Swallow, "Our carriage awaits Milady. If you would accompany me?"
Yasha laughs, and accepts your arm, and you escort her back aboard the Swallow for the trip back to the Aegis.
Chapter 16: Surveying HJG-1034
Upon returning to the Aegis Morrigan, Frank, Simo, and the armsmen all head off for some well-deserved down time. Jace is still walking around on the outside of the Aegis, installing the new focusing arrays into the Sunsears. Yasha remains by your side and her brother Vir enters the Shuttle bay and makes for you.
"Yasha, Tristan. How are you doing?"
Yasha answers for you. "Quite well actually. The Terra Incarnadine is clear of any active threats, as far as we can tell. The station, less so."
Vir looks at you, "I had wondered if Yasha had told you: I can sense only a psychic blankness emanating from the station, and I have no idea what it is. Might you have any idea, Tristan?"
You glance about, making sure no crewmen are in earshot, "Possibly. Yasha tells me that whatever is generating that field is neither human nor of the Warp, so I think it must be Xenos. When I asked Frank and Simo, they thought it may be Tyranid in origin. We''ll have to come back to clear them out in order to complete and launch the Terra Incarnadine. Do you know of anyone who might be interested in doing so to reclaim the station and let us sail away with the ship?"
Vir shakes his head, "no I do not. but if it is Tyranids, then we stand no chance without help. Do you mind if I speak to my sister in private?"
You shake your head, "Not at all. would you mind stopping by my cabin later tomorrow however? I want to talk about what you might know about a few things best not discussed in public.¡±
Vir nods, "agreed Commander."
Late in the evening of the next day¡
You lean back in your chair and rub your eyes. Jace''s latest projections as to the Aegis''s repairs lies on your desk, although you can make little of the technical aspects. What you do understand is that the Aegis is ready to sail, and the Sunsears are back on line and then some. As Jace mentioned, they don''t hit any harder, but they can hit out to much further ranges. Simo has put on a marvelous showing picking off stray debris for gunnery trials, and his accuracy is truly phenomenal. Zheeves raised an eyebrow at your request that he start looking into a party or parties that may want to reclaim the station in exchange for the Terra Incarnadine, though you did let him know that this was an extremely long-term plan, likely not to leave the planning stages for years yet. He seem to appreciate that you are planning so far ahead for once. You are almost startled by a knock at you cabin''s door.
"Vir Saurlance. You wanted to see me Sir?"
"Yes Vir, come in and have a seat. Water, wine, or other refreshments?"
"Water will be fine, I prefer to keep a clear head. You mentioned that you wanted to talk about some ''things best not discussed in public''?"
"Yes. Pardon me if I am being too intrusive, but how did the son of a Navigator house wind up an Astropath? Your House seemed eager to dispose of your services, going so far as to offer me a discounted contract to hire you if I also hired Yasha."
Vir sips his water and smiles, "that goes back to the Kania Incursion. I''ll assume you know the sweep of things: something went wrong, a ship''s Warp engine imploded, and Daemons started pouring out of the woodwork. What is far less well known is that the Kania Astropathic Choir was all but wiped out in the opening moments of the Incursion, so the fumble-fingered Governor signed an order that any and all psykers were to be press-ganged to replace them. Combined with a scared batch of PDF blunts who didn''t know a Navigator from a Wyrdling, I wound up yanked out of a tutoring session, handed a tome, and told to add my voice to the choir. I was no Astropath, but I did know how to see the tides of the warp and shield my mind form the worst of its effects. As a result, I was unable to add any meaning to the message being sent out, but I was able to aim it somewhat, and survive where may others did not."This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
You have seen a few things, but the image of Daemons, night-terrors made hate-fueled flesh, brings a shudder to your spine. "So that event ruined you as a Navigator, I take it, and House Saurlance values you far less because of it?"
"Between that, my distaste for binding contracts, and some... internal politics it is safe to say that the Matron herself values me rather little."
"If you dislike binding contracts, such as the one you are under, then why in the Warp did you accept this one?"
"Because I was to serve with Yasha and get out from under the Matrons thumb. And serving with a Rogue Trader is as free as I''ll ever be."
"Speaking of Yasha, why wasn''t she grabbed when you were? Was she already serving aboard ship?"
"Something like that. Getting back to my history, the call got out and the Space Marines showed up. Yasha was up in the middle of the fight, and did something foolish to distinguish herself to them. I was stuck in the middle of the psychic equivalent of a reactor meltdown with all of the Wyrdlings in the choir dying left and right. So I cut the signal, and did what I had to in order to stay alive long enough for the Space Marines to save my ass. Given that they pulled me out of that mess, the Head Psyker of the Space Marines on Kaina put me through the wringer to make sure I didn''t have a Daemon lurking in my brain before sending me off. The Matron was less than pleased that I was no good at Navigation anymore, so she partnered me off with Yasha and sold our services to you."
You get the feeling that Vir is glossing over some of the details, and flat out bullshitting others. But the whole tale hangs together, and he seems willing enough to serve, and he has proven his worth, so you decide to let the matter lie for the moment. Instead, you bring up the matter of his contract. "Swapping subjects, you said that you don''t like your contract. Unfortunately, we''re both stuck with it for another five years. At that point, the contract times out and I''m supposed to re-negotiate it with House Saurlance. If you want out from under, we could work something out. Say I arrange for you to enter my service directly, under terms agreeable to us both, to end when either of us desires it? What would you say to that?¡±
Vir looks stunned at the offer, "an at-will contract between just the two of us? And I would be serving aboard a Rogue Trader¡¯s ship? Oh, the thumb that would plant right in the Matron''s Third Eye! Consider it a deal, so long as you retain Yasha''s services as well. You have been good for her, and I think her for you as well."
It is your turn to look stunned, "so you don''t mind then?"
Vir snorts, "so long as you understand much of what you are getting into. Navigators, like all psykers, tend to not stand up to time all that well, particularly if they focus on their powers. This tends to express itself via mutations and malignancies. Yasha has always been a shade too long of limb, and this latest crash revision has weakened her normal eyes quite a bit. As time passes, these things, and others, will only grow worse. Yet you have always treated her as any other noble lady and officer, and that has done wonders for her self-esteem and confidence. Now if you will excuse me, I do need to work with Morrigan on my pistol skills."
You stand and extend a hand, "by all means, and thank you for your insights."
Vir shakes your hand, "it is my honor and pleasure to work with a Good Captain." He bows and leaves.
You return to your paperwork, and turn some things over in your mind. There is clearly more to Vir''s background, but thinking it over you decide that most of what he told you was true, and that what he omitted was either difficult to explain to a non-psyker or deeply personal, so you set the matter aside to consider later. You still need to buy Frank a drink, and resolve to do so when you reach the Tuatha system. You double check the roster of planets for the system, looking for a planet likely to have a good bar and blink at the one-entry list of inhabited planets: Dagda, Morrigan''s homeworld. Well, at least they will have some good spirits there, and Morrigan should be able to point you towards a good bar. Your thoughts sour when you consider that you have to leave the system, and update the Hazards to Spacers charts for HJG-1034. Some change is clearly in order, to account for the expanded cloud of debris that your close-pass to the station has stirred up, but what to put? Zheeves is in favor of simply marking the station debris field as larger, but will that keep enough people away so that they don''t discover the Terra Incarnadine? The other option you have persistently contemplated and discarded as too risky is to mark the station as actively dangerous, but that might actually draw more attention to the system, not less.
Chapter 17: Deathworld Whiskey
The Warp Journey from HJG-1034 to the Tuatha system is smooth and fast, and you find yourself headed for the observation dome to get a good view of Dagda during your approach. Thinking back over the paperwork you filled out during the Journey, you approved Zheeves suggestion after only a few minutes of thought. If the Navy were to start poking around the HJG-1034 system for any reason, they''d probably reclaim both the shipyard and the Tera Incarnadine for themselves. But as you get your first good view of Dagda, your breath is all but stolen away. For a Deathworld, it looks stunning from space: large continents the deep green of abundant plant life, wide seas of deep blue, and small enclaves of gridwork lights marking the boundaries of cities and towns.
"I love the stars, but there''s three things I''ll always miss about Dagda," Morrigan says as she steps up next to you to stare at her homeworld, "One, not having to watch my step all the time. Two, well... forget about two." She gives a small smile and shakes her head, "and three, I''ll always miss the songs. Oh, there''s singing and chanting and hymns and so on, but the people of Mag Mell always knew how to carry a tune. Half-smashed on Goibihniu''s latest brew and singing along to the fiddler. Those were the days."
You scratch your chin at that, "so I owe Frank a drink, and from the sound of it you know a good bar. Anything I need to watch out for down there?"
Morrigan shakes her head, "Nah, not if ye don''t pull a weapon and stay inside the town. The wilds'' eat ye alive, but the towns are safe enough so long as ye don''t do summit stupid. For the bar, try The Fen and tell Goibihniu I said hello. Frank knows the way, It used to be our watering hole after the Eldarim Incident."Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Two hours later, and working your way through the third pint of the best beer you have ever had, you finally get to Franks old war stories. "So where in blazes did you learn so much about xenos species? I never knew anything besides rumors and bullshit."
Frank takes a deep drink, "mostly from piloting escorts and talking to the old salts who''ve seen and lived through more fights that you and me both combined. Never actually fought them, mind. My first real fight was in the Eldarim Incident, and that was over as soon as it started. Defense monitors are tough as old boot leather, but the can''t stand up to a void pirate CL who jumps in already shooting. I hit the burners, but the engines were already gone. Simo got most of they boarding craft I think, and Morrigan held off the borders themselves for longer than I thought possible. Psyker of some sort was in the fray somewhere, because hoarfrost was crawling up the bulkheads. The three of us got in an escape pod at the end of it all, though Simo was all kinds of messed up, and we wound up down here."
"So what about these ''Tyranids''? How dangerous are they?"
"As bad as it gets, and then some. Heard stories about all sorts, but only one guy knew about the ''nids. Old hand by the name of Alexei. Missing a third of his face, melted off by a screamer-killer, so I know he''s fought them close-in. He said that no matter what you throw at them, they won''t stop until there all dead or you are. Mindless, hungry, and no sense of self-preservation. One other thing he said stuck in my head: when ''nids are around, astropaths go ''deaf'' and navigators ''blind''. That¡¯s why I think it''s ''nids aboard that shipyard."
The rest of that night is something of a blur when you wake up the next morning back aboard the Aegis. After another three weeks of boring paperwork and scanning assorted hunks of rock in the asteroid belt, it is time to head back to Viking to turn in your report and prepare for the next stage of your Endeavor.
Chapter 18: The Chapter That Doesnt Exist
A note from the author on an old error.
Whelp, ther''s a bit of a snag here. See, when I was first creating and publishing Aegis some two-plus years ago, I made a mistake: I jumped ahead in my chapter numebring from 17 to 19. I didn''t catch my mistake untill much later, chapter 94 to be exact,and by then it was far too late to correct it. As any of you who have submitted things to Reddit may know, you can''t change the title of a post once it has been posted...
Yup. Seventy-five chapters and about threemonths later, I noticed that little goof and decided to press onwards without correcting it in order to preserve the records of the votes. When Redit changed its ToS and I pulled Aegis over into a Google Doc as an interim hosting solution, I kept the mistake; by then it had become one of the little dog-ears or inkblots on a well-loved manuscript.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
And I''m doing the same thing here: leaving a note and laughing at a past mistake before moving onto the next actual chapter of the story. It''s sceduled to go upon the hour, so go take a break and grab a drink of water or somthing. If It''s already up and you''re coming through binge-reading this, go and stretch anyways. There''s a lot more where this came from.
Chapter 19: Void Pirate Hunting
The Warp journey from Tuatha back to Viking is swift and uneventful, and you soon find yourself reading over reports about the void pirate attacks on the Procyon system. They seem to have slackened off in recent months, probably while you were out updating the Hazards to Spacers charts. As far as you can tell, the pirates in question have either hunted out the available resources, or are trying to keep a lower profile. Your thoughts wander back to the Golden Butterfly, and her last known commander. Is is possible that the Void pirates in question have taken damage, and the Golden Butterfly was delivering repair supplies? Or was the Golden Butterfly operating legally and took a chunk out of the pirates when they tried to jump her? You shake your head, there is no way of knowing which it is, or if its something else entirely, until you enter the Procyon system and start your hunt.
In the meantime, your crew is preparing for the hunt. Morrigan is focusing on arms drills for the common crewmen, so they won''t be totally helpless if a boarding action does break out. Jace is cleaning up and reinforcing Cargo Hold 13 in light of the damage it took earlier. Simo is drilling the gun crews, and Frank is studying maps of the Procyon system, trying to figure out where the Void Pirates might be hiding. Yasha and Vir are enjoying some much needed downtime, and Zheeves is off digging up more information.
You rub your eyes. There is simply no way of knowing what you will face, so planning is rather more difficult this time around. Do you want to try and capture a pirate raider? And if so, who do you put in command of her? How do you crew her? Or do you simply blow the hypothetical raider away, collect your bounty and move on? the answers to so many of these questions depend on the opposition. Is the pirate a lone Raider? a Wolfpack of smaller vessels? A merchant raider / q-ship masquerading as a tramp freighter? A Xenos vessel? A haunted or outright Daemonic presence?Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
You press the heels of your palms into your eyes and start to work through the options logically with what information you have on hand. If it is a Xenos or Daemonic craft, then there is no way for you to crew or man it properly, and so little reason to try and take such a craft intact. In such a case, you will simply have to blow the ship away. if it is a single Raider or Q-ship, you might consider boarding her, if you can disable the ship without blowing her away completely. If it''s a Wolfpack, you will certainly be in for a fight, so shooting to kill will probably be your best option, possibly followed by capturing a mostly intact ship. Or even sicing Jace on the debris to try and patch a ship together from the pieces. But first you need to find such a craft, and as you are flying about in a Sword-class Frigate, you are too obviously a military ship to be anything else. So Translating in and acting as bait probably won''t work, unless the Pirates in question are the dumbest cretins you have ever come across. Instead, you have to decide between an obvious pursuit, which may catch you up to the Pirates quickly, but they will see you coming, or trying to ambush them.
Chapter 20: Sunsearing
You make your decision: Ambushing this Void Pirate seems like the best option, and if it''s a singleton, you want to try to take it intact. Doing so means that you will have to rely on Simo crippling the ship without killing it. You drag up the system map for Procyon system and look for any features that might give you a place to launch an attack from stealth. The obvious issue here is that anything that will make you harder to spot will also degrade your own sensors and thus make it harder for you to spot your prey. You consider hiding in orbit around Procyon Primus, but that would only work if the Pirate showed up on the other side of the planet and then went into low orbit, which would slow it down long enough for you to catch it. Shit odds of it playing out exactly that way, so that''s a no-go. Option two: Hide in Procyon Secundus'' Ice Rings. A mixture of an asteroid field and a gas cloud from all of the ice shards, it''s only marginally better. You''d be hard to spot, and the Aegis'' sensors should pick the Pirate up only once it was in-system of you. Two strikes against you are the larger chunks of ice and the unknown amount of time you would have to spend in the ice rings; Frank would eventually blunder into one, and that would hurt. the second strike is the fact that a dedicated pirate raider might have enough of a head start to just run out the far side of the system before you could get a large enough chunk of her.
Then you hit on a plan that just might work: hiding in the star. Well, not Inside the star itself, the heat would do unfortunate things to the Aegis like melting her into a puddle. But in relatively close proximity, anyone pointing sensors at the star should have to filter out the solar radiation, which would give your sensors a head start on picking them out. And you would be in the center of the system, so any approaching ship would have to be headed right towards you for quite a while before the could spot you, and they would have to shed all of their in-system velocity, generate a new vector, and then start accelerating out-system. You would have time to close the distance and get at least two or three broadsides off before they got out of range, and Simo should be able to settle the matter by then, one way or another. Satisfied, you resolve to cross-check your plans with both Simo and Frank to make sure that you are not making a fool of yourself, you order Zheeves to begin preparations for the Warp Journey to the Procyon system.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
The Warp Journey to the Porcyon system is swift and uneventful, and you settle into a parking orbit in close proximity to that system''s star to wait
And wait.
And wait.
And wait.
On the fourth week, you finally spot a ship. A bulk transporter going by the name of the Mavros appears and heads in-system to Procyon Alpha, the systems only inhabited planet. You are about to order a scan of her, to alleviate the boredom, in nothing else, when a second ship appears: a Vagabond class tramp freighter bearing the name Zlatna Peperuda. The Mavros piles on a little more speed, and the Zlatna Peperuda accelerates in pursuit. Something is definitely wrong here, but nobody is operating a pirate raider or combat ship. What do you decide to do?
Chapter 21: Weapons Free
With the appearance of two different ships and an apparent pursuit, you make a snap decision, "Frank, put us on an intercept course for the chase. Simo, warm up the guns and get me a scan of the Mavros first, then the Zlatna Peperuda. Something is very wrong here, and we need to find out what."
Frank responds promptly, "New heading set, going to full military power: 360 gravs of acceleration."
Simo chimes in after only a few minutes, "Sunsears primed and ready, passive lock acquired on both ships. The Mavros appears to be a standard Jerico-class bulk hauler, but she''s got some interesting features; I''m reading a warpsbane gellar field and a Deep Void-class sensor array. Both things are not common outside of dedicated naval scout craft. Scanning the Zlatna Peperuda now, we will be in range in fifteen minutes."
The next ten minutes slip by to the tempo of your beating heart. Everything could be about to go to the Warp in a fancy paper hat, and you are in command of the biggest ship in the system. For your first taste of Void combat, you figure you should do ok so long as no serious competition shows up.
Simo speaks up again, "Scans on the Zlatna Peperuda are coming back strong. I think we know this ship. Jace, check me on this please?"
Jace comes back over your microbead, "Sir, Simo is correct. the Zlatna Peperuda is the Golden Butterfly. The similarities are too close, right down to the fluctuations in her shields."
You nod sharply, several things coming together in your head, "Simo, priority target is the Golden Butterfly. She is a Merchant Raider, so take her out before she can gut the Mavros. Try to keep the Golden Butterfly in one piece if you can, but saving the Mavros comes first. Frank, adjust out intercept appropriately." Both Frank and Simo respond in the affirmative, and you glance back to the sensors overview just in time to spot a new return ghost onto the display. "Jace, sweep the Ice Rings again, I''m seeing a faint return from that direction. Simo, stay ready on the guns."Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Two minutes later, the sensor ghost near the Ice Rings starts to firm up, and things get a tad more complex. "Jace here, That ''sensor ghost'' is starting to look an awful lot like a Wolfpack class Raider."
You promptly re-shuffle your priorities. "Simo, take the Raider out. Frank, go to evasive maneuvers. Jace, stand by Damage control. Were in a proper furball now."
Simo already has the Raider locked up and is firing before you even finish speaking. The Sunsears spit streams of red light, and the Raider gets mauled. Her dorsal macrobattery is reduced to so much slag and she is bleeding atmosphere into the void.
The Mavros comes about and fires her meager broadside at the raider as well, but scores no significant damage.
The Golden Butterfly unloads her prow plasma batteries at the Mavros, but only succeeds in wasting power. Her lance is aimed to the Raider however, and adds her own contribution to the Raider''s pain.
The Raider, now hemorrhaging atmosphere from several decks, gets only a single lance strike out in return, shredding the Mavros'' shields.
Simo''s next volley shreds what is left of the Raider. The detonation of its plasma drive only serves to illuminate the splintered fragments of its hull as they are consumed.
The Mavros gets her shields back online and keeps turning, taking the Golden Butterfly under fire. She manages to strip off the shields, but otherwise does little more than scratch some paintwork.
The Golden Butterfly gets her shield back online, and maneuvers to break away from the fight, obviously not wanting to tangle with both the Aegis and the Mavros at the same time.
Chapter 22: The Black Ship
Your heartbeat slows back down to something a tad more normal as the fight winds down, "Frank, put us between the Mavros and the Golden Butterfly. Simo, lock up the Golden Butterfly and take some shots at her, keep her running. Vir, open a channel to the Mavros. Ask them if they require any additional assistance."
Simo strips the shields of the Golden Butterfly even as you finish speaking, and Vir gets busy with the communications controls, "Aegis to Mavros, do you read?" A moment later, his eyebrows all but merge with his hairline, "Pyrus, is that you? Of course, we will stand by to receive a shuttle! Ventral Docking Bay, two hours, I''ll see you then." He looks over to you, "well, that was certainly unexpected."
One of your eyebrows rises, "I take it you knew someone on the Mavros?"
"You could say that sir. They''ve requested to send a shuttle over, apparently they have some information that they don''t want to send over a com link. I accepted, of course. One doesn''t tell Pyrus no without a damn good reason."
Your other eyebrow rises up to join its twin. This Pyrus must have a rather large reputation that you are unaware of, and major players in the proverbial shadows make you twitchy. "Vir, would you know this Pyrus from the Kania incursion?"
Vir nods, "yes Sir, he was there."
"Very well then, you and your sister are joining me in the reception crew. Zheeves, you have the bridge." As you turn to leave, Simo reports losing target lock as the Golden Butterfly enters the Warp.
Two hours later¡
You are standing near the airlock to Ventral Docking Bay Two, waiting for they bay to re-pressurize. You are turned out in your usual noble clothes and full weapons array at Vir''s suggestion. Vir himself is in full regalia as well, with robes and staff as well as his usual House Saurlance headscarf. Yasha is much the same, however your eyes flick back and forth between their throats as you notice that they are wearing matching charms: bolter shells carved with images of lizards and flames. There is something to that, but you will have to look into it later as the shuttle from the Mavros has landed and the airlock chimes. It is time to meet your guests.
You work the airlock and stride into the hanger, Vir on your left and Yasha on your right, and almost stop dead in your tracks as you get the first good look at the shuttle. Instead of the simple personnel transport you were expecting, a void-black gunship sits before you. Its blunt wings mark it as atmospheric-capable, just as the massive cannon on its top and quartet of heavy bolters under the wings mark it as being able to handle damn near anything the void can throw at it. before you can ask Vir or Yasha any questions, the slab-fronted prow below the cockpit lowers into a boarding ramp, and a single massive figure stands at its head. As he steps forward and descends the boarding ramp, you get a better look at him.
He stands easily two and a half meters high, though you suspect some of that is from the finely-wrought Power Armor that encases his entire form. As the shuttle, it is void-black from head to toe with only two exceptions; the left arm from pauldron down is bright chrome, that same pauldron bearing a triple-barred I, and the right pauldron bears the same lizard-and-flames motif that adorns Yasha and Vir''s charms, though his is flanked by the embedded claws of some dead alien. One of the finest bolters you have ever seen is holstered along his right thigh, and an equally fine bolt pistol rides his left hip. A Power sword rides his right hip, and although you can not see the blade, the hilt is easily the work of a master craftsman. He holds a power staff of only slightly less impressive quality, but the runes and carvings all along its length that mark him out as a psyker. Vir gives you a small mental nudge, and you remember your duty as a captain and host.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"Pyrus, I presume? Rogue trader Tristan Von Sebastion of House Von Sebastion, Shipmaster and Commander of the Aegis. Welcome aboard. I Take it that you have met Vir and Yasha Saurlance in the past?"
The figure nods slowly before speaking a a resonating bass voice, "Pyrus of the Salamanders, on secondment to the Deathwatch. Indeed I have. I thank you for your assistance Master Von Sebastion, for the Mavros would have been hard-pressed to deal with either the Zlatna Peperuda or that Pirate, much less both together. I must ask, what brought you to the Procyon system? And why risk your ship hunting Pirates?"
You have to make an effort to prevent your jaw from hitting the deckplate. Pyrus is a Space Marine, a warrior beyond compare, and one you had never thought to see outside of stories and legends, "I had accepted a contract to swat a void pirate harassing this system, as the Imperial Navy was unable to find the hulls to deal with the issue. If I may dare ask, what brings a Space Marine on some sort of special mission to this same system, and why would the Zlatna Peperuda, also known as the Golden Butterfly, attack his ship?"
Pyrus shakes his head slowly, "that information is not mine to reveal. But it is good to know that there is more information to be had about the Zlatna Peperuda. She has been harassing the Mavros for nearly a month now. Enginseer, would you happen to know more?"
You turn and spot Jace over by a fuel bowser, stunned at being singled out, "err, yes Lord. Though much of it is dated, almost two decades old." He launches into the summary version of what he told you, though it is obvious that much of it means more to Pyrus than it did to you.
Pyrus gives a slow, thoughtful nod, "if this is already known to you, then I can shed at least some light on the situation. It is some small thanks for saving the Mavros, at least. The ''triple-barred I insignia'' is the sigil of the Inquisition, so this Magos Rex must have gone astray at some point. Now, I must ask for your discretion as to my and the Mavros'' presence in this system. Once my current mission is over, I may require your further services sometime in the future."
You may not know this ''Deathwatch'', but you have heard of the Inquisition. An Imperial Organization dedicated to doing the dirty work of keeping the Imperium together. Pissing them off or drawing their ire is a surefire way to wind up dead, or worse. "Of course Lord Pyrus. We will be on-station here for another week or so, to make sure that that Pirate Raider didn''t have any friends. Afterwards, I''m due to escort a Colony ship to the Outbound system. I take it as a given that you have a method of contacting my Astropath directly?"
Pyrus cocks his head and hoarfrost forms around his fingertips, "now I do. Go with the Emperor Tristan Von Sebastion." With that, he turns and re-boards his shuttle.
One week later...
You begin preparations to return to Viking, still somewhat shaken. Vir obviously set you up for Pyrus to blindside at the meeting, but the Mavros vanished back into the Warp just over five days ago without another word. You figure that you are in the clear, but finding yourself face-to-face with what has to be one of the Inquisition''s most powerful minions is still deeply disturbing. You''ve told Zheeves to knock off looking for more information about ships bearing the Inquisition''s sigil, as they can only bring bad news and worse complications. Taking a sip of wine, you debate what to do when you return to Viking.
Chapter 23: Gearing Up
The Warp journey from Procyon back to Viking is as swift and as smooth as you have come to expect from Yasha. Soon after exiting the Warp, the Aegis is entering Viking orbit and Zheeves is communicating with the Master of the Pilgrim Ship Cambrian. They are finishing up some final preparations, and will need about a month to get everything squared away. This is just fine by you, as it will give the Aegis time to top off her supplies, for the crew to get some rest and relaxation, and for your officers to do a bit of shopping.
Soon after you make port, Morrigan is off to expand your Armsman core, both in terms of manpower and in terms of firepower. Two weeks later, she is drilling about fifty new people, with your original set of ten armsmen as the command team. Six fireteams are set up as five-man rifle squads, two more fireteams -- inevitably lead by Jenkins and Leroy -- are equipped with shotguns for the close assault role, and the last two fireteams are configured as heavy support and kitted out with medium machine guns, colloquially known as heavy stubbers.
Zheeves is overseeing the replenishment of the crew and supplies, and can be occasionally overheard griping at the fact that he can''t get better crews for the wages he is offering. Given that your current crew is shaping up quite nicely, you let it slide for now.
Simo and Frank set about acquiring hardened voidsuits for everyone, and then Jace spends quite a bit of time adapting both his and Simo''s to work with their existing cybernetics. His so that he can still manipulate things properly even while wearing the suit. Simo''s suit is changed so that he can still ''plug in'' to the Aegis while suited up.
Vir spends the four weeks both training with Morrigan and in meditations. Whatever Lord Pyrus did to get a communications channel established obviously was tiring for him. You debate asking some questions, but decide instead to simply reprimand Vir for not warning you that Lord Pyrus was a Space Marine before meeting him. Given that even Vir did not know Lord Pyrus was working for the Inquisition, you and he are both somewhat worried. Having an Inquisitor poking around in your business is rarely a good thing, so you come to an agreement that Lord Pyrus should only be contacted when it is absolutely necessary to do so.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Yasha spends quite a bit of time visiting House Suarlance researching something related to Navigators, though you decide not to press the issue. If it is important to the well-being of the Aegis and her crew, you feel that she would tell you. She also manages to find time to do some clothes shopping, as you spot her in a few new outfits.
You decide to split your time between getting to know the Master of the Cambrian and poking around into the history of the Aegis some more. The Cambrians Master, one Robert Santon Pierre, comes across as a typical independent shipmaster: pious, stoic, and more concerned with the state of his ship and crew than his passengers. Given that he seems like a competent enough sort, and is suitably grateful for the extra time to prepare his ship before departing, you leave him to his own preparations.
Your digging into the history of Aegis leads to little new information, so you leave a few less-than-promising leads to a couple of Naval Historians and instead dig into the history of House Von Sebastion a tad more. Your House has held a warrant of trade for some time, but no ship since one of your great-great-ancestors managed to lose the bulk hauler Pegasus. Until you salvaged and repaired the Aegis, of course. But that means that your warrant is still quite renowned, at least among those institutions that care about such things. it may not matter to much at the moment, but as you rebuild the House Von Sebastion name, old connections may start coming to the surface, along with old rivalries of course.
With your departure date approaching, you run into a slight complication: Robert assumed that the Cambrian would be leading, with the Aegis along as a gunslinger in case things went sideways. You on the other hand assumed that the Cambrian had requested an escort because they expected things to go sideways and that the Aegis would be breaking trail for the Cambrian.
Chapter 24: Following the Cambrian
You decide that the Cambrian can take the lead, although that means that Yasha will be following the path of another ship and Navigator instead of leading the way. It might be a tad more uncertain, but it makes Robert S. Pierre happy, and he is responsible for the most vexing part of the trip: dealing with the pilgrims. From remarks he has made in passing, you get the impression that they are particularly wearing on the nerves.
As the day of departure arrives and the crew starts filtering back aboard, you do note a couple of oddities and discrepancies have crept into the manifests. Most of these you either ignore or pass onto Zheeves and Morrigan to sort out, but two catch your eye.
Vir has a pair of small but ornately carved boxes stashed in his quarters. The smaller of the two is made of wood and might hold a ring or other such small trinket. The other is larger, perhaps the length of your forearm, and made of some sort of ivory, old and yellowed with age.
And Yasha has an inordinate number of older texts brought up. Most are badged with the House Saurlance emblem, and made of musty old parchment, but there are a few data-crystals here and there. You would assume it to simply be an updated version of a Navigator''s Map, except for the fact that it filled the entire volume of a passenger shuttle and that Yasha personally escorted all of it into her quarters.
You rub your forehead as you enter the Aegis'' bridge. Oddities and Things to Look Into have been piling up of late, and after this Contract is complete, you intend to sit down and sort through them. But for now it is time to depart. You start to give the usual orders, but pause when you notice Simo and Frank are both eyeing the Cambrian with some suspicion. It''s not hard to guess why, as you take your first good look at her. Instead of the usual blunt prow, slab-sided cargo-box midsection, and bulky engine cluster you would expect of an Imperial Pilgrim Ship, the Cambrian is, well, strange.
She has the usual blunt prow, but her midsection is more stretched, looking almost like a shellfish or something that belongs in the deep sea, not space. Her engine block is long and lean, of a design you have never seen before. You promptly decide that Mr. Pierre has deliberately not told you everything, but the Aegis'' position is below and behind the Cambrian, so you will be in position to take her under fire from an advantageous position if you need to. You go ahead and issue the usual departure orders, but follow them up with instructions to Frank, Simo, Jace, and Zheeves to keep an eye on the Cambrian in addition to any outside threats. As the Cambrian and Aegis settle down for the out-system run to the Translation Point, you decide to ask Vir a quick, but pointed, question over your microbead, "Vir, could you contact Lord Pyrus if you had to? I''ve a bad feeling about the Cambrian, she doesn''t look to be of normal Imperial Construction."If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
"I could Sir, but only if we need to. He is working for the Inquisition now, so that complicates things."
"Of course, I just needed to know if that was an option. Tristan, clear." You rub your chin, but there is little you can do now, and you have no evidence as to Xenos influence outside of some unusual ship construction, and the Viking Port Officials have obviously cleared her, so she can''t be too unorthodox. You can only shrug for now, and order Yasha to follow the Cambrian to the Outbound system.
The following Warp Journey is far more turbulent then the Aegis is used to, but Yasha and frank get the Aegis through without too much incident. The same cannot be said for the Cambrian. On returning to realspace on the outskirts of the Outbound system, she looks like something has chewed her up and spit her out. Literally. The port half of the ''clam shell'' has a gargantuan bite taken out of it, and the starboard half is dented in. You can see the neat semi-circle of indentations that mark tooth impressions. The smallest of them must be fifteen meters across, and the largest is closer to twenty. She is shedding atmosphere, debris and bodies flowing into her wake from the holes in her sides. A slightly panicked call comes in, "Cambrian to Aegis, please respond. Cambrian to Aegis, is anyone out there?"
"Aegis here Cambrian, we can see it. What aid can we give you?"
"Oh thank the Gods. Aegis, we think we can at least seal off the atmo leaks, but would appreciate the extra manpower doing so. Can you send over Enginseering support?"
"Cambrian, help is coming but we need to match velocities to send shuttles back and forth. Head for high orbit over Vrenna, the planet in this system. We will match your orbit and send shuttles when you get there. Aegis, clear." As you close the connection, something dances down your spine with a million little legs. You have to lend aid, but who do you send? what do you tell them to do?
Chapter 25: Something is Fishy
You think over your options while the Cambrian and the Aegis enter orbit of Vrenna and match velocities. The Cambrian has managed to get the atmosphere leaks on the starboard side patched, and the port side isn''t leaking as badly, but that might be just because all the atmosphere in that section has already vented. You scratch your nose and make a final set of decisions, "Morrigan, get fireteams Leroy and Jenkins ready, they will provide cover for the Enginseers. Also prep four more fireteams, including one of the support ones and yourself, for a follow on wave or extraction mission. Jace, put together a crew to help weld shut whatever needs sealed off over there, but don''t include yourself. As much as I dislike saying it, we have no real idea about what is going on over there, so I''m not risking anyone of rank in the first wave. Simo, stand by the Sunsears as a last resort. I don''t anticipate needing them, but if we do need them, we will need them fast."
Five hours later the repairs are well underway without any noticeable mishap. the damage surveys are complete, and it is clear that the Cambrian won''t be able to re-enter the warp any time soon. So you decide to contact Robert to see if you should go fetch assistance. His reply surprises you,
"No need Aegis, this was a one-way trip for the Cambrian anyway. The unusual design was to try and let her land on Vrenna, where she would form the core of the new colony. But with the Starboard side so heavily damaged, that is not really an option anymore. We''ll have to shuttle everything down instead, which will take about two weeks if you stay to assist."
"Stand by Cambrian while I check with my Enginseer Primus to see if there is anything we can do to accelerate that." You mute that connection and open a new one to Jace, "Jace, mr. Pierre says that the Cambrian was modified to land on a planet, and can''t do so anymore due to the damage. I''m smelling some bullshit, what say you?"
"If the Cambrian was made to land on a planet, I''ll eat my own omnitool. Those ''seashells'' are completely un-aerodynamic, and the Cambrian is simply too massive to go below Vrenna low orbit without setting off monsoons from disrupting the atmosphere. In her damaged state, that is even more true."
"Right, start getting your Enginseering crews out from under then. I''ll buy time by running my mouth if I can. Tristan, clear." you close that connection and open another one to Morrigan, "Morrigan, stand by. Something is up with the Cambrian, and things may be about to go pear-shaped. I''ve told Jace to work on getting his Enginseering teams out quietly, and you should do the same for your armsmen. Tristan, clear." With that done, you sit back and kill another six or seven minutes twiddling your thumbs, about the amount of time you would need to do an actual consultation with Jace. At the end of that time, you re-open the channel to the Cambrian, "Aegis here Cambrian, I''ve some good news and some bad news. Which one do you wan''t first?"Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
"Cambrian here Aegis. Bad news first I guess."
"Bad news is that we need to pull our crew back. Good news is that by doing so, we can probably free up an extra cargo shuttle or two to help with the landing. That may be able to shave a few days off your estimate. Possibly a few more if we forget about getting the Cambrian repaired aside from what she needs to land her cargo."
"Sounds good Aegis. Any time frame as to when we can have them back?"
"Not at this time Cambrian. We''ve got some nuts and bolts for them to put back in place from that warp transit, and my Enginseer Primus could use the extra hands. He has finished all of the small stuff that he can do without them I guess."
"Confirmed Aegis, Cambrian Clear."
You think for a moment, then open a channel to Vir, "I think we may need to get a report for Lord Pyrus together. Coordinate with Jace and Morrigan, and with the crew members that went over to the Cambrian. Someone had to have seen something, more than what our sensors could tell us anyway."
"Can I say that I have your authority in doing this? I don''t want to come across like I was going behind your back."
You blink and think it over for a moment, "Yes, of course. I''ll let Zheeves know, and I''ll even countersign it if you want."
"That''s something of a relief Sir. I''ll get right on it.¡±
Twelve Days Later...
The last shuttle runs are complete and your are preparing to leave the system. Vir has sent the report to Lord Pyrus with your collective findings, as well as the system coordinates and all of the information on the Cambrian, her crew, and her passengers you have. It is nowhere near as much as you would like, but you managed to gather all of it without tipping your hand, you think. You give the orders to set course for Viking and head out. Something may come of the report in time, but for now you have other things to look into.
Chapter 26: Critical Success
Of all of the oddities aboard the Aegis, you decide to check in on Yasha first. You make your way back towards her quarters and knock on the hatch. Nothing. You frown and try again.
Yasha''s muffled voice answers, "Just a moment!"
About three moments later, by your reckoning, the hatch cracks open and Yasha looks out at you. Her headband is in place, but her hair is astray and her robe is slightly disordered.You cock an eyebrow, "Am I intruding?"
Yasha blushes, and tucks a stray strand of auburn hair behind her ear, "not at all Tristan, what can I do for you? Please, come in and have a seat." She opens the hatch further and gestures to a chair not totally covered in stray books.
You take the indicated seat, lifting a heavy tome out of the way, "actually I came down to see how you were doing with all of your new books. Quite a library you''ve got started here."
Yasha takes the tome from you and puts it atop a precarious pile of other tomes on a side table, "Well actually. Much better than I have been in quite some time. Vir is doing well and is actually talking to people. Outside his duties I mean. And I finally got clearance to dig through some of the House Saurlance records on a personal project of mine, which is about half of the books scattered about the place. The other half, I''m ashamed to admit, are bad romances and flights of fiction."
"Bad romances? Why do I get the feeling that I am intruding after all?"
"Perhaps, but it is not entirely unwelcome..."
Fellowship Test Successful: Critical Success. Pancakes Ensue.
Several very pleasant hours later, you are rather rudely awakened by the strident chirp of a priority signal on your microbead. Half-awake, you grope for the thing, careful not to wake Yasha. You kill the alarm and open the channel, "Tristan here, what news?"
"Zheeves here Sir. The Mavros has just entered the system and is hailing us."
"I''ll be on the bridge in five minutes Zheeves. Tristan, clear." You sit there for a moment before letting out a heartfelt "Fuck me."
Yasha stirs, "ready for another round already?"
You scratch her head, "The Mavros is here, and I''m needed on the bridge."
Yasha sits up, suddenly wide awake, "Well, Fuck me."
You grin as you get out of bed, "Later."
Five Minutes later...This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
You stride onto the bridge and tell Zheeves to replay the message as you sit down in the Command Chair. Zheeves puts the message through on a secondary display and you hit play. Lord Pyrus appears and begins speaking.
"Shipmaster Von Sebastion, good to see you again. I received your report on the Cambrian, and it ties into a... case that I''m working on. I do not feel comfortable discussing this over communications, even with the encryption that is at my disposal. I will be entering orbit in three hours, please arrange to receive a shuttle at that time. Pyrus, clear."
You glance over at Zheeves, "how are the arrangements to receive our guest coming?
Zheeves checks his dataslate, "everything is well in hand. I have arranged for Vir, Yasha, Morrigan, and yourself to be off-duty at the time. I''d prefer to have Jace available as well, but he is still hip-deep in some machine down in his workshop. Something about re-triangulating a homing beacon, I think he said. The meeting will be in Ventral Docking Bay Two, and I have prepared a conference module adjacent to the bay that should suit our guest.¡±
You nod, "I''ll be In Ventral Docking Bay Two then, should anyone need me. Please arrange for the others to meet me there oh, fifteen minutes before our guest docks."
Zheeves salutes, "I''ll do that thing sir.¡±
Three Hours Later¡
You, Morrigan, Yasha, and Vir are standing in the conference room, awaiting Lord Pyrus'' arrival. Yasha and Vir, mostly Vir, have given Morrigan the run-down on who and what Lord Pyrus is. She seems twitchier than normal, endlessly rolling a throne around her augmetic fingers. You can''t blame her as you feel a tad nervous yourself.
Not soon after, Lord Pyrus arrives, introductions are made all around, and your group returns to the conference room. everyone takes seats around the round table, and Lord Pyrus starts revealing his case, as he called it in his message. In his rumbling baritone, he reveals only the information that he thinks you need to know, "I have been tracking a group of subversives, trading in forbidden technology like Artificial Intelligences. The description of the Cambrian matches construction methods that they use, so I believe there to be a link between the two. The problem is that I am easily recognizable, to say the least, and my superiors would prefer to get the entire group rather than drive them into hiding. Again. This presents me with somewhat of a problem, as I need to get myself and my team onto the surface of Vrenna unnoticed. The Aegis may hold the key. They know you, Master Von Sebastion, to be a reliable and helpful sort, and one who did not ask too many questions last time. They will hopefully request your aid again, bringing in more material for their new colony. When they do, you will insert myself and my team."
You lean back and scratch your chin for a moment, "instead of waiting, would it be possible to ''wander through'' the system on another pretext? Like updating the Navigation Charts for the area, particularly in light of the damage the Cambrian took getting to the Outbound system? Getting down to the planet might still be an issue, but the Aegis could put in for a ''port visit'' and at least have a reasonable excuse for sending down a shuttle or three."
Lord Pyrus mulls the idea over for a moment, "I had not thought of using such guile. Perhaps you are right Master Von Sebastion. I have at my disposal at least one shuttle with stealth capability that should be able to avoid sensors for a while at least. This plan would also allow the Aegis to remain on-station for some time. Certainly long enough for an extraction, should that prove needed. We will proceed with this plan, though it will take a day or so to prepare the equipment my team will need and transfer it to the Aegis. Would you mind if we continued to use this docking bay, and made it our base of operations for the duration?"
"Not at all Lord. I believe we have an adjacent cargo bay, and we could probably modify it for whatever ends you would need. That would take a little longer, but not much more than the day you specified.
Lord Pyrus nods slowly, "Then we are agreed. I will return to the Mavros to begin my preparations. May the Emperor guide you."
"And you, Lord Pyrus."
Chapter 27: Morrigans Troubles
Between checking up on Morrigan and asking Vir about his boxes, you decide that checking up on Morrigan is more important. Accordingly, you call her over you microbead and ask her if she will join you for another round of weapons drill. She agrees, although you can hear the trepidation in her voice. At the agreed time, you head down to the rifle range in Cargo Bay 7, now known unofficially as Marine Country. Given that the Space Marine team will be right next door in Cargo Bay 6, the name seems appropriate somehow.Your musings come to an end as you approach the range and you can hear the measured Crack... Crack... Crack... of her Hellgun.
She doesn''t even look up as you enter, simply putting another hole in an already perforated target. You decide to stand well behind her and watch until she finishes up. It doesn''t seem healthy to surprise a person with a weapon in their hands, particularly when you know it''s loaded. Nearly a full minute later, Morrigan pauses to reload and you grab her attention by clearing your throat.
"Tristan, what did you want to talk over this time?¡±
"You actually. You seemed as nervous as a virgin on her wedding day when we met Lord Pyrus. What''s up?¡±?
"He''s a combat psyker. Oh, I know Vir and Yasha are pskyers, but they are good people and I have come to know... them quite well. Pyrus on the other hand, he scares me."
You can all but see the gears turning in Morrigans head, and hear how carefully she is picking her words. This time however, you decide to call her on it, "Morrigan, we are going to be playing host to a fireteam, at least, of Space Marines for a little while, and I can tell that something else is bothering you. So come clean and tell me what it is already, because the last thing I want is for you to wind up dead over a misunderstanding and leave me looking down the barrel of a Bolter from the wrong end."
Morrigan sighs, "It all goes back to the Eldarim Incident. Frank and Simo were busy fighting the ship, but I was busy fighting in the ship up close and personal. During the fighting there are at least three different points where strange stuff happened. Two were clearly the void pirates fault, because they were throwing lightning or fire or some other unnatural shit. The third time, I''m not sure. I remember seeing shrapnel, or whatever their guns were shooting, fly past my head so slow I could have reached out and picked it out of the air. My shots were going just as slow but exactly where I was aiming, killshots every one of them. And hoarfrost crawling up the bulkheads all around us. I''m scared Tristan. What if I''m a psyker too? And If Pyrus knows it and decides that I''m a witch or something and decides to burn me..." she breaks off and starts crying.
You are stunned. You hadn''t thought much of this possibility, and had dismissed it every time it came up in the back of your head. Surely Vir or Yasha would have alerted you if they detected another psyker aboard. Yet you never bothered to ask, simply assuming that they would. Now you have a situation, and you have little time in which to solve it. You blow out a long breath that you didn''t know you were holding as several things click together in your mind. Morrigan''s disappearances while the Aegis was in the Warp, and her twitchyness when you would see her over the same timeframe - she was hiding, afraid that something would happen. This isn''t something you could hand off to the local priest, even if you had one aboard. You are sure that there are some among the crew, but then problems of rank and rampant superstition come into play. So you decide on the next best solution, "Morrigan, I''m hardly an expert on psykers or Warp-influence. But Vir probably is, given all the shit that he has been through. It''s not my story to tell however, so you should probably go ask him about what happened to him during the Kania Incursion. Plus, he knows Lord Pyrus, so you could probably get some more information on that score as well. But there is no way I''m simply going to toss you out an airlock, or allow anyone to do so, unless something actually happens. That''s been my policy since before I hired you, and I see no reason to change it now."The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Morrigan sniffles, but nods her head shakily, "I''ll do that thing."
Your micorbead''s priority signal alert goes off and you roll your eyes, "best head off then Morrigan, It appears that I''ve got some things to do." Morrigan heads for the hatch as you accept the incoming signal, "Tirstan here, what news?"
"Frank here Sir. We have a Cargo Shuttle on approach from the Mavros."
You shrug, "They must be beginning to transfer cargo. Direct them to Ventral Docking Bay 2 and have Jace stand by to assist in needed. I''ll be down there to greet them. Tristan clear." You close the connection and go to greet the new arrivals.
When you get to Ventral Docking Bay 2, Jace is already there, and he has the doors to Cargo Bay 6 open. you can see some of his preparations inside, but your attention is drawn back to the cargo shuttle already unloading crates and boxes. It looks like any other cargo shuttle you have seen, with the exception of its paint - a flat, light drinking black, without a single scratch or dent to bee seen anywhere. before you can investigate it further, Lord Pyrus approaches you trailed by two other figures of similar stature. The remainder of the Space Marine team, you assume.
Both of the new arrivals have the same black armor and silver left arm. The figure on the left has an ice-blue right pauldron, adorned with a snarling wolf head in black. He carries a massive rifle over one shoulder, and a bolt pistol and ax ride his belt. On second glance, you notice all of the augmetics: left arm from the elbow down, both legs from the knees, both eyes, and you can hear the soft click and whir of augmetic lungs at least. the figure on the right sport a dark blue pauldron with a white omega symbol and carries a bolter, bolt pistol, well-used chainsword, and an abundance of grenades. Lord Pyrus introduces Wolf''s Head as Direwolf, and Omega as Rubicon. With introductions made, Lord Direwolf and Lord Rubicon, though you are sure that those are code names, head off to oversee Jace and the cargo robots storing their equipment. Lord Pyrus turns back and asks one question before he departs, and you smack your forehead at how obvious is seems. What do you do with the Mavros while the Aegis is on this mission?
Chapter 28: Thats not Human...
You look at Lord Pyrus, "I think we need to leave the Mavros behind. Mr. Pierre knew the Aegis had just returned from survey work before we headed out to the Outbound system, so they shouldn''t think our desire to refit before heading back is anything unusual. The Mavros on the other had would be harder to fit into that deception. She has the Deep Void Array, but is far less able to defend herself then the Aegis, and so would be less likely to be selected for Survey work in a border region."
Lord Pyrus blinks, "border region? How do you know that?"
It is your turn to shrug, "border of known space I mean. There are other stars, and therefore other systems out there. But my charts end at the Outbound system. Past that is unknown / unsurveyed areas, which are usually the haven of pirates and xenos."
Lord Pyrus stares at you for another few heartbeats, and you get the strange feeling that you are being assessed with more than mortal eyes. Her then turns away and heads off to check with his fellow Space Marines.
Almost a day later...
You are on the bridge supervising the crew as they prepare for the Aegis'' departure to the Outbound system. Everything is normal and Yasha has just sealed herself into the Navigator''s Vestibule when Direwolf enters the bridge. He doesn''t say anything, just casually leans against a bulkhead near the hatch, conveniently placed to keep an eye on everyone and everything. You issue the order to Yasha to make for the Outbound system at her usual pace, then turn to Direwolf, "What can I do for you, Lord Direwolf?"
Direwolf glances in your direction for only a moment before his eyes resume their automatic sweep of everything, "Transit Security Detail. No offence Shpimaster Von Sebastion, but we of the Deathwatch keep an eye on everything when not on home ground."
"None taken Lord Direwolf. We should be arriving in the Outbound system in three days time, if all goes smoothly.¡±
Nine Days Later¡
According to Yasha, you are nearly at the Revision Point and all the more glad for it. The trip has taken three times as long as expected, and several members of your crew have looked as if they slept poorly. Direwolf is back on the bridge again. At the appointed time, the hair on the back of your neck and arms stands on end, space twists, and the Aegis is back in reality. Direwolf''s eyes promptly sweep the sensor readouts. You grunt and flip on the holotable, pulling up a map of the Outbound system and overlaying the data for your sensors, looking for things out of place. The Cambrian is right where you last saw her, in low orbit over Vrenna. Satisfied, you crack your back and face Frank, "Put us into a standard sweep pattern, same as we used when we were updating those Hazards to Spacers Charts, if you please."
Frank acknowledges receipt of the order and put the Aegis in a lazy turn to starboard along the system perimeter. Direwolf glaces back, sees the holotable, and stalks over, "would it not be better to simply start in the center and work our way outwards? That would let us begin our mission sooner."This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
You shake your head tiredly, "possible, but if we are to claim that we are here to survey the system, then we need to look like we are actually surveying the system. Best way to do that is to follow a typical search pattern and sweep away with our sensors. This lets us get a feel for anything in the system, gives us an excuse to use active sensors for a prolonged period of time, and for the people planetside to get used to our presence. When we put into port in a week or two, we''ll be ''old news'' as far as they are concerned."
Direwolf nods his head, accepting your explanation, "playing the patient hunter then. Wait for them to tip their hand if they have a trap, or at least give the best chance to spot it. I wonder if they''ve changed anything aboard the Cambrian since we were last here?"
You shake your head, "probably not. I''d have to check with Jace, but something that badly mauled would need a proper shipyard to put right, and there isn''t one in the Outbound system. Transfer some of the smaller systems down to the planet, possibly, but not any of the big ones like weapons emplacements." you pull up the last set of scans you have of the Cambrian, "You have more experience with xenos works than any of us here. Is there anything that stands out about the Cambrian?"
Direwolf studies the image of the Cabrian for a long time, slowly rotating it to look at different angles. He overlays the un-damaged version of the ship with the damaged one, and nods his head as he confirms something, "partial Imperial construction, but definitely some Xenos work as well. Intact, she may well have been able to land on Vrenna if these ''clamshells'' had some anti-grav tech. Damaged as she is, no way."
The holotable snaps back to the tactical view with the blinking red icon of an unknown, presumably hostile, contact on the far side of the system. Simo call out, "sorry to interrupt Sir, I think you need to see this. Sensors can''t get a good look at that ship. But it came from the wrong side of the system, from outside of Imperial space."
Direwolf stiffens, his jaw visibly clenching, "That ship isn''t human. Helm, Silent Running. NOW!"
Your head snaps up at Direwolf¡¯s harsh tone, "Frank belay that, hold course and search pattern for now. Simo, get us a better look at that ship. Lets not tip our hand too quickly."
Direwolf snarls for a moment, then visibly shudders and slowly nods, "playing the patient hunter again I see. Let them think we can''t see them until we know more, then act."
You nod, "and even if that ship buggers of back into the Warp, we''ll have an entry and exit vector. That will tell us where they came from, and provide more leverage in prying open whatever ratnest is developing down on Vrenna. And if they stick around, I want the Aegis to have the best possible chance if it comes to a fight."
Two hours later, and it¡¯s not looking good. Lord Pyrus and Rubicon have joined Direwolf on the bridge, and all three are studying the scans you have of the xenos ship. It has a sharply pointed prow bristling with guns, and a trio of solar sails protrude from its rear half. It clearly knows that the Aegis is in system, as it works its way in-system keeping the planet between the two ships. You frown, "now why would they be heading for the planet if they know the Aegis is in the system?"
Rubicon shrugs, "appointment it has to keep perhaps. No way that ship knows that the Aegis is hostile, not after playing this cat-and-mouse game for over two hours now. Expect her to drop off sensors completely upon entering orbit."
Direwolf shakes his head, "I don''t think it knows that the Aegis is a warship at all. It would have gone dark and either ambushed us or waited us out otherwise."
You scratch your chin, "possible. We never showed the Cambrian our weapons in action, and her sensors were trashed along with her hull, so she can''t tell the newcomer what we have, even if she can tell what we are. The newcomer is technically in range of our Sunsears, if we could get a clear shot. Given how cagey this guy is playing, he''s not going to give us one. So the real question is do we let her go and then move in on Vrenna, or try and maneuver to create that opportunity?"
Rubicon grunts, "Vrenna isn''t going anywhere, so the real question is whether we keep to the shadows or reveal ourselves."
Chapter 29: ...So we Took a Shot at It
You study the track that the xenos ship has been following, and spot a pattern: every maneuver it has made has been in the same plane. left, right, forward, back, but never up or down. Whomever is driving that ship is a rank amateur to void combat, and as a result you have your opening. You look at Direwolf, and bare your teeth in a feral grin, "Time to strike. Frank, put us on a polar intercept course, I want to come slashing up behind that ship. Simo, fire at will. Priority targets are the solar sails, I want that ship immobilized before this furball even begins."
Lord Pyrus looks slightly bemused, but Rubicon nods, "mobility kill first, a good move. Once that is done, the Aegis can sit behind them and pound away."
Direwolf''s grin is just as savage as yours, "and we won''t need to sneak around planetside either. I always feel better with orbital support overhead."
Lord Pyrus is nodding now, "If we need it, yes."The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
You are hardly paying attention to the Space Marines, as Frank stands the Aegis on her side, thrusters flaring as he puts her on track to cross under Vrenna''s southern pole. Simo is in full trance now, and you can see the Sunsear turrets come around to track the xenos ship. You check the tracking display and have to remind yourself to not take your opponent for granted. It was clearly aware of your presence and reacted quickly by turning away from Vrenna, but it is still moving in the same plane. Simo opens up will a full salvo, and you have to scrape your jaw off the deck.
The Xenos ship isn''t where your sensors though it was.
Instead it is burning tighter to the planet, dropping down into low orbit as the Aegis'' salvo shreds a harmless decoy. Frank automatically switches to an evasive pattern. Simo checks his fire, as Vrenna would catch any misses. Sunsears wouldn''t do much to any planet due to thermal blooming, but you appreciate his caution nonetheless.
Then the Xenos ships does something you would never have expected: they open a channel to the Aegis. A sing-song voice comes over an open channel to the bridge, "Darkness flows from the Oldest Shrines Flamebearer. Will you aid us in sealing it?"
Chapter 30: This is Above my Paygrade
When your instincts are screaming this loudly, you really have no other option besides following them. So you order Simo to hold fire and turn to the Space Marines, "My Lords, what are your orders?"
Lord Pyrus stares at the xenos ship, hoarfrost and flames dancing on his fingers. After the longest few heartbeats of your life he speaks, "Give me a communications channel."
Vir promptly patches Lord Pyrus into the channel opened by the Xenos ship.
"Aegis to unknown ship, clarify."
That sing-song voice comes back, "Beings That Should Not Be, Aegis. We intend to cast them out and seal the Way behind them. Will you lend us your strength or stand in our path?"
Pyrus closes his eyes and considers, the flames and hoarfrost dancing faster. You glace about your bridge and take stock of your crew. Morrigan, Frank and Simo are all tense and twitchy at the presence of the Xenos ship, but Vir and Yasha are both as pale as snow. You cock an eyebrow at Yasha, and she mouths ''Kania'' at you. You pause for a moment, then the reference hit you like an out-of-control shuttle. Kania. The Kania Incursion. Daemons. Xenos were bad enough, but this is truly above and way beyond what you signed on for. You nod at Yasha and clench your jaw, hoping against hope that Lord Pyrus doesn''t put you, the Aegis, or her crew into too much more peril.
Your hopes are in vain.
Lord Pyrus'' eyes open, "Send a landing zone outside of this ''shrine''. We will send a shuttle, as will you." He gestures for Vir to close the channel, and turn to you, "Shipmaster Von Sebastion, I will require your armsmen in this endeavor."
You hold up a placating hand, and turn to your bridge crew, "Frank, stay on the helm. Simo, we are under a ceasefire here. Do NOT fire at that ship unless instructed to do so by myself, Zheeves, or if we are fired upon by that ship. Morrigan, prepare a single team of armsmen, one of the rifle squads I think. You will remain aboard the Aegis, leading the other squads in defense of the ship if needed." You turn back to Lord Pyrus, "I dare not risk more armsmen, both for the safety of my ship and in case of contamination. Accordingly, I must leave my Bosun aboard to lead them. Instead, I will lead the squad myself, accompanied by Vir and Yasha Saurlance. They both survived the Kania Incursion."
Lord Pyrus nods in agreement, "what about orbital support? can the Aegis conduct an orbital strike if needed?"
You can only ask Simo the same question. He responds, "not with the level of destruction that you may be used to Lord. Our Sunsears are powerful, but they are not proper Bombardment Cannons or Lances. They would hit with no more power than an artillery shell, and even my accuracy would be less that perfect."
You can only shrug, "If we need a bigger boom, we could always drop the Cambrian on the target."
Lord Pyrus shakes his head, "no, we need that ship for evidence now that we are operating openly."
You nod in acceptance, "Sunsears it is then. Vir, Yasha, prepare for an away mission."
With Frank and Simo both staying aboard the Aegis, you must instead use Lord Pyrus'' shuttle and pilot. Everything is scaled for a space marine, so your feet are left dangling off the benches in the rear of the shuttle. everyone is in full War gear, and at least one armsman is murmuring prayers. All to soon, you are exiting the shuttle behind the Space Marines, eyes sweeping the area.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
The plain on which you have landed is rather picturesque, dotted with slow-rolling hills and coated in knee-high grasses and illuminated by the high-noon sun. Its beauty is almost complimented by the Xenos shuttle''s sweeping lines, but not its matte black color or the hundreds of white runes and red gemstones set into its surface. Standing in front of it are eight unnaturally tall figures. Seven of them are in the same black with white runes colors as the shuttle and carry slim firearms of a design you have not seen before. The eighth is dressed in bone white robes and carries a long polearm of what looks to be yellowed ivory. Direwolf sniffs the air loudly, and you see his eyes tracking the hilltops, looking for someone or something. Your eyes do the same, but fix on the ugly lump of twisted black stone one hilltop to the south.
Your eyes strain to make out more details about that unnatural protrusion, and you can feel the migraine building behind your eyes and smell the sickly-sweet odor of perfume and rotted flesh on the breeze. Your attention is wrenched away by the same sing-song voice you heard over the Aegis'' bridge speakers.
"The Firebringer and the Wanderer have come to aid us in our time of need. Should we still stand when the sun sets, then debts will be paid and fresh oaths struck."
You glance at lord Pyrus, but he is looking at Direwolf. Direwolf sniffs again, then nods in satisfaction, "three rangers on the hill to the north, but the xenos isn''t lying. I can smell the corruption on the air."
You can see Lord Pyrus come to a decision, but it is overruled by a flare of painful pink-green-purple light from the south. Vir and Yasha both open up in that direction, pouring a mixture of lasbolts and solid slugs at something beyond your range of vision. The black-clad xenos follow suit, unleashing a withering barrage of screeching metal. Rubicon snaps an order and your armsmen fall prone into firing positions alongside him, the cadence of their lasguns a steady pewing drumbeat. You turn to face the monument again, drawing your laspistol and Serpent¡¯s Breath, and behold madness.
A tide of flesh and claws and scant scraps of cloth is emerging from a hellish Portal at the foot of the twisted stones. The leading crest is being hammered into ruined scraps of flesh, but larger beings are emerging now, standing chest and head and shoulders above their lesser minions. You add the fire of your laspistol to the barrage, and are surprised to see one of the large ones stagger under the shots. Then there is the almighty THOOM of Direwolf''s high-caliber rifle discharging and the large one you were plinking at disintegrates into so much pink mist.
Lord Pyrus and the polearm-carrying Xenos step forward in unison. The xenos sweeps her polearm in a grand circle over her head and the clear sky opens up in a lightning storm, thunderbolts raining down into the midst of the tide. Lord Pyrus is a tad more direct, pointing his staff at the foe and unleashing a torrent of white fire. Their combined efforts leave the horde reeling, but more of the daemons are still coming through the gate.
Praying that your signal can get through, you holster Serpent¡¯s Breath and tap your microbead, "Tristan to Zheeves, do you read?"
"I re... ou, Si..."
"Have Simo bombard the stones south of our landing zone. Repeat, bombard the stones south of the landing zone."
"...ard sto... uth of t... nding zo... med. Dang... ose."
Your desperate gambit pays off, mostly. Beams of coherent light strike down from on high, blasting craters tens of meters across in the daemonc tide. One round lands just behind the leading edge and throws several of the damned things forwards into your ranks. Rubicon is on his feat, chainblade in hand with inhuman speed clashing with one of them. Lord Pyrus breaks off his fire long enough to neatly bisect another two before they can land. Polearm-xenos claims another, never even breaking her cyclic circles. Two more land among the black clad xenos, and a third among your armsmen. Without thinking, you charge the last one.
Before you can reach the daemon, a sunsear blast hits the Portal directly. You feel the air itself crackle with unnatural power as everything freezes for a searing moment. Then you are hurled sideways, and everything goes black.
When you come to, you can only open your right eye. Staring at the darkened sky, you gather your wits and listen to the stillness in the air. The click of a bootheel on stone draws your attention, so you slowly sit up. All around you, figures lie still and unmoving. Only one person stands: the polearm-xenos, at it is looking directly at you.
"I would have words, Wanderer, If you would listen."
Chapter 31: Strand of Fate
You decide to talk, "Speak then, if you don''t mind me looking for my friends at the same time." You try to stand, and find that your legs will not hold your weight, "or not. Guess I''m not going anywhere fast."
The Polearm-xenos bows from the waist, its eyes never leaving your sitting form, "When you wake again, I and my kind will have departed. I would congratulate you Wanderer, for standing against the Beings That Should Not Be, and living to tell of it. Accordingly, the strands of fate have shifted, false paths falling away. We may yet meet again as friends on earth crimson." It turns to leave, then pauses, "Tell the Flamebringer that the oath he swore on the Bleeding Shard is fulfilled. He will know what it means." It continues away towards its shuttle.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
You can feel the tiredness sinking into your bones, your thoughts as slow as tar on an iceworld. As the xenos shuttle begins to lift, you tap your ear looking for your microbead. Unsurprisingly it isn''t there, although you do hear the strident sound of a priority signal coming from somewhere by you knees. You groan as you feel around for it, eventually pulling it out of the mud and flipping it to speaker-mode, "Tristan here."
"Zheeves here, it is good to hear from you sir. the Xenos ship is preparing to break orbit, do you want to stop them?"
You close your eyes as a fresh wave of bumps and bruises start reporting in, "No Zheeves, let them go. Get the doctor on a shuttle headed this way soonest though."
"Already prepared. Zheeves, clear."
You lay back on the stony ground, and let sleep claim you.
Chapter 32: Sifted Wreckage (Dream)
You Dream.
Your dreams drift back to older times, jumping over the raw mental scars of the battle just fought, skipping past the pleasure you shared with Yasha, skimming along over dreary miles of paperwork.
They settle into an old, worn grove, spinning back to days filled with wreckage, bad or no atmosphere, Your first brush with your current lover, and the day you lost your fear.
You are back to the days you boarded the Aegis for the first time. Sure in your imminent glory, sure that you would live forever, as all young people are. You stepped off the shuttle, and right into shit. Literally. A pile of rat shit squished under your heel. But of course there was no power, and thus no atmosphere in the shuttle bay, so nobody smelled it.
The remainder of that week is a mess of tangled wreckage and twisted metal. Of the rasp of your breath in your voidsuit. Of checking the archived maps and praying that they were accurate. Of giving the enginseers a hand hauling Emperor knows what down to the archaic twists and turns of pipes they swore was the Life Support Engines.
Your thesis still needed completion, so while everyone else was busy welding this or soldering that, you decided to sneak off to see the destroyed sections of the ship. What good is writing about the damage the Aegis had taken if you have no real appreciation for that damage? So you sealed up your suit and headed for the shuttle bay airlock. You exited it just in time to greet an incoming shuttle. Recognizing the presence of a crest on its nose as marking it as the transport of someone important, you decided a tad bit of theater was in order. So you stood by the airlock and gestured the pair of Navigators in as if holding the door for them at a formal soiree. The elder of the two, if the number of charms and fetishes was anything to go by, brushed past you without even noting your presence. The second one was far more sensibly attired, carrying a rifle instead of just an overguilded laspistol. She nodded a quick thanks, and quickly followed after her mentor.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
You exited the permanently open shuttle bay, ducking through a jagged hole in the one remaining armored door, and headed aft. One small timeless time of drifting back down the hull and you reach the destroyed areas. In nightmares past, you had torn your suit or gone drifting off into the void, suffering a thousand thousands of little dream-deaths before awakening.
This time, you suffer no such fate, and stare once again at the cratered ruin that used to be the Plasma Drive Room. Shattered scraps of metal as tall as three men drift and spin endlessly in the microgravity. Deep down, on the far side of the destroyed compartments, you can see the fitful sputter of the enginseers at work. Standing among the work, you see the young Navigator looking over the work, apparently unconcerned by the lack of atmosphere. Your respect for her increases another notch as you see her take in her surroundings and treat them with the proper respect an active work zone requires.
Your dreams jump-skip-slide ahead. You feel like you are standing in a burning freezer as you dream of the horrific moment when the still-damages Aegis tried to enter the warp for the first time. The old crone of a Navigator twisting and distorting as the Kania Maw drags at the ship in a sudden spasm of spite and fury. The Things pulling themselves out of the flicker-flash-madness shadows. The armsmen and crewmen torn apart by the Things. Serpent¡¯s Breath snagging on your clothing a you try to draw it. The old crone Navigator tearing off her headband, the purple-blue-azure light spilling forth, Things and people alike turning to ash before her Lidless Stare. Serpent¡¯s Breath finally in your hand as one more Thing materializes and tears into the old crone navigator. Tearing Serpent''s Breath free of their combined corpses, the old crone Navigator half-melted, half-shifted into a Thing herself. The realization that nothing else in reality can compare to this singing moment, and that fear will only ever haunt your dreams for here forward.
Your dreams slide-jolt-jump again, and you dream of the stone-hard look on the young Navigator''s face as she takes the Aegis into the warp, bound for Viking on her first ever solo jump, her mother''s overguilded laspistol at her side.
Your dreams take on that translucent, wispy, fading-away feeling that you get as you awaken. You blink hard, and raise a hand to the bandage covering your left eye, Chief Medicae Berach staring back at you. Dozens of questions rattle around in your head. Who survived? What condition are you in?
Chapter 33: Taking Stock
Your one working eye fixes on Chief Medicae Berach, "status report doc?"
Berach pushes his horn-rimmed glasses back up his hooked nose, "well, you could be worse. Contusions and bruises are healing up nicely, swelling is down and your new augmetic eye is knitting in nicely. Lord Pyrus has already declared you clean of mutation, though he does want to examine your for corruption now that you are awake."
"Wait, new eye? What happened to my old one?"
Berach consults a clipboard, flipping through his notes, "short version? Torn to shreds by blast-launched shrapnel. I''m surprised you still have a head that''s working as it should. I''ll be taking the bandage off in a few days."
"And the others who went down to Vrenna?"
Berach hooks the clipboard over the end of the bed and pulls a dataslate out of a pocket, "Lady Saurlance has already returned to duty, despite a bruised collarbone. Lord Saurlance is still on limited duty due to a cracked rib. I expect both of them to make a full recovery, given time. Of the armsmen, I had to identify four of them by dental records. The fifth, a mr. Adam Mantium, is still getting used to his new augmetics. Of the Space Marines, all of them came off relatively unscathed. Lord Rubicon picked up a new scar or three, Lord Direwolf is having his augmetics repaired, and Lord Pyrus is assisting Master Echo in doing so. All survivors have been confirmed clean of fresh mutations and corruption, pending your interview with Lord Pyrus. I''ll inform him that you are awake now." With that, he bustles out of the room, his white smock swirling about his legs.
You lay back on the bed and try to piece you thoughts together. Obviously, you need to tell Lord Pyrus about what the polearm-xeno said. Next step would be getting him back to the Mavros and getting back to regular business. But something tells you that these last few days, the ones that you can remember at least, are going to have consequences further down the road. Sure, you have an Inquisition contact, but he or she probably has you marked down as an asset. You refocus your thoughts as Lord Pyrus comes limping through the doorway. He is dressed in a slightly grimy work robe reminiscent of the ones Jace wares on a regular basis, and you notice him grimace as he sits down heavily on the end of the bed. He stares at you for a long, searching moment before speaking, "So you finally woke up."Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
"Yes. I''m assuming that you are here to make sure I''m not a loose end then?"
"I''ve no fear of that. If I did, you would never have woken up. I know that the Farseer said something to you. I saw her turn back to you before boarding her shuttle, but my helmet was too badly damaged to make out what she said."
You sigh with relief, "she spoke a bit before you woke up. Most of it is slangspeach to me, but I guess psykers speak their own language the rest of us just don''t get. What she said, word for word, is ''When you wake again, I and my kind will have departed. I would congratulate you Wanderer, for standing against the Beings That Should Not Be, and living to tell of it. Accordingly, the strands of fate have shifted, false paths falling away. We may yet meet again as friends on earth crimson.'' At that point, she turned to leave, paused, and said ''Tell the Flamebringer that the oath he swore on the Bleeding Shard is fulfilled. He will know what it means.'' I''m going to go out on a limb and assume that you are the one she called Flamebringer?"
Pyrus nods, clearly picking his words with care, "The Farseer was talking about events that may yet come to pass, and old history that has no bearing on the present any longer. I hope. Once you have recovered, it is time to head back to the Mavros. I have reports of my own to file, and you undoubtedly need to get back to your trade. Between the aid you offered back in Procyon, and your actions on Vrenna, it is safe to say that you are on the Ordo Xenos'' list of assets. Accordingly, our paths may cross again. I hope my and Mr. Echo¡¯s work on your eye will serve you well."
He gets up to leave, and you lay back in bed once more. Two or three days from now, the Aegis will be headed back to Viking, and from there onward to more opportunities and more risks. You get the feeling of having stepped into the deep end of the pool as you contemplate your future plans.
Chapter 34: The Back End of Beyond
The return to Viking is slow but uneventful, giving you plenty of time to get used to your new eye. Looking in the mirror is still somewhat disquieting, as your new eye is almost but not quite a match for your organic one. At least it looks almost normal, instead of requiring a metal plate over half of your face, or exposed wiring to the back of your head.
Upon docking at Port Esallia, Lord Pyrus and the remainder of his team quietly depart for the Mavros, and you instruct Zheeves to stand the ship down for a week or three whilst locating a new exploration contract.
He drops of a quartet of folders on your desk a few weeks later. The topmost is a summary of House Von Sebastion finances. You promptly skip to the summary at the rear, skimming over the rest. Zheeves has conveniently left a note tucked away there with the layman''s version of affairs, as he knows that you can''t be bothered to drudge through and understand the whole thing: 23 out of 100. Looking up from where you were a few months ago!Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
The other three are possible contracts to undertake, and another Note from Zheeves indicates that you will probably need to undertake two of them, baring an absolutely fantastical find:
Option One: head north to investigate and map the Scheall system, suspected to be a pirate base.
Option Two: head East to investigate the Nil''kvee system. You note that it is only one jump past the Outbound system, and so may be of interest to Lord Pyrus.
Option Three: head south to investigate the Unin and Aria systems, which have recently emerged from a Warp Storm.
Chapter 35: North by Northeast
You decide to head north to check on the Scheall system, after a suitable bit of preparation. To that end, you direct Zheeves to acquire whatever data he can on the system. You aren''t expecting much, but any little scrap could matter.
You spend the two weeks familiarizing yourself with the controls of both the Aegis and of her cargo shuttles under Frank''s tutelage. His skill far outstrips yours, but at least you can land and take off without crashing... most of the time.
Jace has spent some time upgrading the Swallow. There is no changing her cargo shuttle heritage, but he has managed to add on some armor. No weapons however, as her frame and power plant just can''t support them.
Adam Mantium has adapted to his new role as Morrigan''s unofficial second in command and chaplain to the troops. He has acquired robe, aquilla pendant, and a crude rosarius icon from somewhere, as well as a flamer and a two-handed chainsword. You make a mental note to make sure Morrigan teaches him how to use the bloody thing without cutting his arms off a second time.
Yasha has been pouring over maps of the Scheall and surrounding systems, looking for what you do not know. You heartily approve, as you are going out to the edge of Imperial space, and a little beyond. With her injury fully healed, you have spent a fair bit more time with her, both in public and private.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Vir and Morrigan have been spending quite a bit of time together as well. One day, you notice Vir has brought out the smaller of his boxes. Later that day Morrigan is later wearing a small adamantium and gem-set ring, as well as a secret smile.
As the day of departure draws closer, Zheeves comes through with the schematics of the forward listening post that was the last known Imperial installation in the Scheall system, and thus the most likely anchor point for the hypothetical pirate base.
Most listening posts are thin-skinned things, unarmed and unarmored. From what you and Jace can make of the schematics, the Scheall post is only slightly better, as befits her role as a forward tripwire. She carries no more armor then the Aegis, despite being five times her size and mass, and is armed with only a single macrobattery turret. The pirates, if any exist, will have likely tried to improve this situation somewhat, but Jace cannot see how they could do that without fundamentally re-building the station.
One peaceful Warp Journey and fifteen days later, the Aegis arrives in the Scheall system. As soon as the Aegis'' sensor arrays clear, the picture looks thorny and complex.
One wolfpack-class raider is already a drifting wreck, but another three are active and perusing another ship that is headed right for you. A quick scan identifies the fourth ship as the Golden Butterfly, and that the station is indeed active and armed: a long-range lance strike takes the Golden Butterfly''s void shields down, and the Wolfpacks chew at her heels.
Chapter 36: Wolfpack in the Void
You begin to issue orders after only a moment''s hesitation, "Simo, stop the Golden Butterfly from getting away, then waste the Wolfpacks. Frank, keep the range open. Jace, get me a better scan of that station. I need to know what they are armed with soonest.
The Golden Butterfly''s evasive actions are becoming increasingly desperate, attempting to claw as far away from you as she can while not giving the Wolfpacks or the station much to shoot at.
Franks first maneuver makes her situation even worse. The Aegis rolls and cuts off at an angle, putting the Golden Butterfly so that she has to give someone a broadside to shoot at no matter which way she turns.
The range is just under ten VU between the Aegis and the Golden Butterfly, but Simo doesn''t miss with anything. He hits the Golden butterfly with the entire weight of the Sunsears'' fire in an area the size of a small desk just in front of her plasma drive.
The resulting catastrophic explosion is tinted with the blue-purple lightning of a failed Warp Engine as what is left of the Golden Butterfly is sucked into the Warp with neither Void Shields nor Gellar field online.
Simo looks back with a sheepish grin on his face, "oops."
The three Wolfpack raiders spread out, seeking to converge on the Aegis from different vectors. The station opens up with its lance again, but the range is too long and the Aegis is moving to quickly. The two beams going wide by the comfortable margin of a few thousand kilometers.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Frank puts the Aegis in a hard skew-turn, diving polar south away from the nearest Wolfpack. Simo locks up the furthest of the three at a whopping sixteen VUs, and turns it into so much drifting shrapnel illuminated by the flare of a plasma drive containment failure.
The two remaining Wolfpacks, still well outside their own weapons range, decide descreession is the better part of valor and start heading for the system edge. The station can''t run away, and its gunners seem to be getting their aim in. The beams are still nowhere close to hitting the Aegis, but they only miss by a few hundred kilometers instead of a few thousand.
You decide that the station is the bigger threat, now that the Wolfpaks are running away, "Frank, maneuver against the station. Simo, finish the Wolfpacks if you can. Jace, where is that station scan?"
"Jace here sir. The station has been up-gunned to hold a pair of Titanforge Lances, probably the extended range variant. Its armor shows signs of hasty repairs, and her void shields are shaky at best. It probably has internal damage from a boarding action and / or slipshod maintenance, if her exterior is anything to go by. Still processing more data at this time. Clear."
Simo turns a second Wolfpack into a drifting, powerless wreck as its companion makes a Warp Transit and flees.
Only the station is left now, and Jace''s prediction of bad maintenance are born out as only one of its turrets fires, missing the Aegis by a few dozen kilometers. The other one explodes in a colorful display of void-born pyrotechnics.
Morrigan takes one look at your face and decides to cut in, "Sir, we simply do not have the manpower to take that station ourselves. We should secure the wrecked Wolfpack and call in the Imperial Navy to reclaim their station.¡±
Simo Interjects, "they can''t hurt us either, not with only one lance that will be lucky to strip our Void Shields. I say we siege them down, blow out their systems one by one, and send them all to hell."
Chapter 37: Feasting on Scraps
The station manages to land a hit on the Aegis, stripping her Void Shields. This makes up your mind in a hurry. "Simo, pull the station''s teeth. I''m sure the Navy is going to want it back, so try not to blow it up. Vir, stand by to put in a call to our local Navy contact. Inform them that the listening post is mostly intact, but full of pirates that we just don''t have the manpower to handle. They are welcome to come take it back whenever they feel like. Frank, put us on an intercept course for the wrecked Wolfpacks."
The station''s one remaining turret is dealt with in short order, though the resulting detonation does take the top eighth of the station with it. Simo secures the Sunsears as Frank get the Aegis back underway.
As you come into visual range of the ruined Wolfpacks, you see a sight that chills you to the bone: the hulls are as much living flesh as cold metal, daubed with festering runes and littered with leaking pustules. You promptly order Frank to hold the Aegis clear, and Simo to pound the wreckage until it''s so much floating shrapnel. You may not know much of heresy or the things that live in the Warp, but that Wolfpack is clearly something that should not be allowed to continue to exist.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
As Simo begins to methodically liquefy the Wolfpacks form bow to stern, you speak quietly to Vir, "Append what we found with these Wolfpacks, images included if possible, so that they know to bring plenty of priests and flamers. Send a copy to Lord Pyrus, and ask him if there is some more conventional way we could contact him, a message dead-drop or something."
Vir simply accepts your orders, and gets on with the process of composing and sending the messages.
Thus you find yourself considering your next destination with half a bottle of good ale in hand, the other half warming your belly.
Chapter 38: Up the Creek...
To save some time, you instruct Yasha to head directly from Scheall to Nil''kvee. It is perhaps the worst decision you have made to date.
The trip should have taken six days.
Twelve days into the trip, persistent rumors of ship-ghosts start circulating. Morrigan doubles down on patrols, and Adam''s sermons are far more heavily attended than usual.
Eighteen days in, the Aegis'' seams start showing undue strain. Jace and his underlings are working overtime replacing components that should have had hundreds of hours left on their clocks.
Twenty six days in, all hell breaks loose. Literally.
Cargo Holds Seventeen through Twenty-Three, thankfully empty of cargo and most human beings, explosively vent into the Warp. Ventral Docking Bays Four and Five follow suit, The Gellar field flickers for the tiniest of moments, and there are reports of things clawing at the emergency bulkheads. Morrigan and Adam lead teams of hand-picked armsmen to investigate.
Two hours later, Adam sends word that Morrigan is in the sickbay, half the armsmen are dead or worse, and that the intrusion is contained, for now. For the first time in a long time, fear dances its icy fingers along your nerves. All you can do is pray to the Emperor.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
On the thirtieth day, the Aegis finally exits the Warp at the outermost fringes of the Nil''kvee system. You promptly order Jace to begin a full overhaul of the Gellar Field and Warp Engine, on top of the damage survey.
The results are a testament to the construction of the Aegis:
- The Warp Engine is operating well within safety margins, but Jace is considering overhauling it anyway on general principles, if he can get the parts.
- The Gellar Field generators, every last one of them, need new haemolubricant coolant before they can be considered properly operational.
- The affected Cargo Holds and Docking Bays are a total write off for the moment. They need complete reconstruction and reconsecration.
- The Aegis'' armor is simply gone aft of the prow. Not shot away, as you would expect, it¡¯s been chewed on and clawed at.
The only things in the Nil''kvee system that the Aegis'' sensors can detect are a single red dwarf star, a single war-stained planet that used to be a garden world, if the charts can be believed, and an extensive orbital platform. According to what you long-range sensor sweeps can tell you, it features the same sea-creature-esque construction that the Cambrian had, all sweeping curves and rounded edges.
With the Gellar Field generators in need of overhaul, heading back to an imperial shipyard for repairs is looking mighty risky. So you need to repair the Aegis out of local materials and resources.
Chapter 39: ...With a Broken Paddle
You order Frank to start a slow, limping course into the Nil''kvee system. No reason to stress the Aegis excessively with so much damage, after all. You then call for an all-officers meeting, to be held thirty hours later, after everyone has had a chance for a well-earned rest.
Thirty hours later, and feeling somewhat more refreshed, you enter the conference room, snagging a large cup of caf and a few pastries before beginning the meeting. Glancing around the table you tick off who is present.
Zheeves has the bridge, but is listening in via microbead.
Adam Mantium is present and looking wide awake and eager for his first official meeting.
Morrigan sits next to him, but she has deep bags under her eyes, and winces with every bite she takes. Not hard to understand, if the bulges under her uniform are bandages.
Frank is with Zheeves on the bridge, but Simo has joined in as the resident expert on xenos species.
Jace is present as well, though he is leaning heavily on the table, and you spot a trio of power chords going from under his robes to various power sockets in the walls. Clearly he has been running on his reserves for far too long.
Vir is sitting close to Yasha, one hand never far from his bolt-charm.
Yasha is looking well rested, but here eyes are still shadowed by the harrowing Warp Journey, if you had to guess.
With everyone accounted for, you open the meeting by asking if any new crises have developed over night. Everyone present answers in the negative, so you proceed, "obviously, were stuck in-system until the Gellar field generators are fully operational and our navigator is properly rested. Once that is the case, I plan to return to Viking directly so that any additional damage can be repaired. With that in mind, is there any progress on that front Jace?"
Jace lethargically shakes his head, "Negative commander, and no progress is anticipated anytime soon. To replace the haemolubricant coolant, the enginseering crew is going to have to reverse-engineer the high-volume synthesizers we need, plus any additional machine equipment needed to construct them. This process is slow at the moment due in large part to simple fatigue. We''ve been running non-stop for fourteen days now, and need to stand down to something approaching normal watch schedules for at least that long before we can make serious progress."
You nod in understanding, "stand down as much as you are able to then. Next up, crew status. Morrigan, Adam?"Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Morrigan simply motions for Adam to speak and returns to chewing, slowly and painfully, on a pastry. Adam blinks, startled, then jumps right in, "Crew morale is as low as one would expect after such a harrowing journey. Many are attending sermons, and I expect morale to rebound somewhat as nightmares fade. As for the Armsmen core, it''s gutted. We''re down to perhaps a dozen warm bodies, and seven of them are in the sickbay."
You raise one eyebrow, "that is worse than previously reported. What happened?"
Adam shrugs, "the additional casualties were incurred maintaining the containment. At least two of the dead are suicides however."
You lean back and take another large sip of caf, "So we can''t fight a large-scale close action anytime soon. We still have out guns, but with no effective armor, I''m hesitant to bring on a void fight either. Simo, how likely is either, given our unknown locals?"
Simo rubs his MIU jacks, "unknown, but I''d hazard unlikely if my guess is correct. The orbital platform looks like Tau construction. If it is, then it will tend to be lightly armored, combining void construction, civilian shipping, and a large number of system defense guns into one platform. They will be unlikely to start a fight un-provoked, but the planet is so ravaged that all bets may be off."
You take a bite of pastry and nod, "plus there is our contact with Lord Pyrus. No need to strain that without a damn good reason. Vir, any news on that front?"
Vir nods, caressing his bolt-charm, "Some. I have received contact information for a location and time back on Viking, with an indication that more arrangements are to follow on. Zheeves has the details.¡±
You lean back at your chair and stare at the ceiling, "so we''re in something of an awkward spot. We can probably make some repairs on our own, but will likely need resources we don''t possess at the moment. We can get those resources from the planet, probably, but the Tau have a presence and we are in no position for a fight. Not against a heavily armed orbital station. So I propose we look to trade for or buy what we need. This will accelerate our repairs and allow us to gather some information for Lord Pyrus. But we cannot commit to any plan of action without some kind of contact from the planet or orbital platform. Vir, Adam, Zheeves, stick around. The rest of you, return to your duties."
The others head off back to work or the sickbay. Once everyone else has left, you wait a moment longer before continuing, "Vir, I hate to ask this of you, but I need you and Adam to check over the armsmen and crew who were exposed again. Morrigan included. I need to be sure that there are no lingering traces of Heresy or Corruption from the breach. Dismissed."
You drink more caf, giving them plenty of time to keep clear before pinging Zheeves'' microbead, "Zheeves when we get closer into the planet, I''ll want you to open any negotiations. You have better business sense then I do when it comes to these things. In the meantime, have whomever is on communications start building up a list of channels and the chatter on them, so we know who to talk to."
"Already on that Sir, and we have some interesting results. Much of the chatter is meaningless of course, not being in any recognizable form of common, but it largely falls into three categories. The first is encrypted, showing up as ciphered burst transmissions, mostly planet to station and back. The second has the feel of civilian chatter and/or automated beacons. All of this group is originating from the station. The last and smallest portion is far more guttural, possibly Orkish, and originates from the planet itself."
Chapter 40: Blueberries
A few days later, you enter the bridge as the Aegis is finally within hailing range of the Tau orbital platform. You can almost feel the weapons aimed at your ship, and you hope that whomever is behind the trigger doesn''t decide to simply end you for no good reason. As you are musing over your possible fate, Zheeves taps you on the shoulder.
"We are ready to begin communications attempts, Sir."
You stare at the station for a bit longer, "Go ahead on the un-encrypted station frequencies only."
Zheeves nods, and bends over the communications console to begin. Forty-one minutes later a response comes in that leaves Zheeves scratching his head. "I can''t make heads nor tails of it Sir. It''s only a sequence of numbers, repeating. One seven point four nine eight, a pause, negative three nine point zero four three, a pause, zero zero point zero zero three, a pause, and finally two zero zero six point seven six three."
Frank chines in, "the first three read like a rather specific bearing. Drawing from the station, that would be on the far side pointing off into nowhere. Drawing from the Aegis however, that points right at one specific station module. Perhaps that is a communications array?"Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Zheeves nods slowly, "in that case, the last one may be a particular frequency over which to transmit. Way down in the UHF range if it is. I''ll try again."
A mere eight minutes later, Zheeves stands upright, "Now we''re getting somewhere. Plain text only, but its Gothic at least. Negotiations are underway. I expect to have a parking orbit and some sort of contacts soon Sir."
Four days layer, as the Aegis sits in her parking orbit under the watchful guns of the Tau orbital station, Zheeves enters your office for your regularly scheduled conference. He is grinning from ear to ear.
"Quite a bit of progress sir. The Tau are offering to supply us with the needed materials for our repairs. There was some grumbling over the price and payment method, but I eventually got them to outline two options for your final approval.
"Option one is raw resources. Specifically, The Aegis would have to assist in the escort of a mining craft while it gathers rare earths out of an asteroid belt out on the system edge. Probably Orks in the area, so the Aegis may end up taking additional damage in the process.
"Option two is a long-term freight and/or trade goods contract. Cargo from Imperial ports to Outbound or Nil''kvee, plus goods for the return trip. They were short on specifics as to what the Aegis would be hauling, but the first return trip would be gratis for the repairs."
Chapter 41: Patching Things Up
You don''t have to ponder over the two options for very long. Carrying xenos cargo is likely to strain your relationship with Lord Pyrus, who represents the only Imperial organization with the authority to actually revoke your Warrant of Trade. Probably by killing off you and your entire House.
On the other hand, carrying the cargo at least gives you some chance, whereas fighting the orks is almost certainly a death sentence. The Aegis would get torn in two if it was rammed, and that doesn''t count damage from being boarded. Or from getting hit by a stray asteroid. Or the thousand and three other things that could go wrong when a mining operation needs an armed escort.
"We''ll go with option two, with two modifications: we get the Aegis completely fixed up front, and we get a complete inventory of the cargo. If they have objections, we at least have valid reasons. As to the repairs: without them, we cannot guarantee delivery. The odds of the Aegis simply getting torn apart on any kind of warp transit is simply too high. As to the inventory: we need to know if we are hauling items with any sort of stowage or handling requirements. Potentially explosive or corrosive items, live creatures, passengers, so on."
Zheeves strokes his chin, "that sounds more than reasonable. The other question is whether or not we actually deliver the cargo. Handing it off to Lord Pyrus might prove exceptionally profitable."
You lean back in your chair, "probably not. If we keep our word, then we are in a position to siphon information over a longer period of time. Deliver the stuff, tip off Lord Pyrus or the local authorities, and let them ''find'' it on their own. Exception being seriously nasty things like weapons or the like. And we make a profit the whole way down the line."
Zheeves looks thoughtful, "long-term plan with higher risk, but potentially higher profits. Not my typical cup of tea."
You shrug, "If the Tau decide to backstab us, then we hand over everything to Lord Pyrus, come back with a flotilla, and blow the station to scrap for a start. But I don''t think they will. So far they have been rather honorable. They could have simply stormed the Aegis, or blown her out of space, any time in the past four days. They haven''t."
Zheeves nods, "very well Sir. I''ll get right on it then."
You wait for the door to close behind Zheeves before returning to the folders on your desk: the summaries of Adam''s and Vir''s investigations. The results are both hopeful and depressing. In short, there are no signs of demonic possession or heresy, but Morrigan is no longer fit for duty aboard a void-going vessel. Persistent Night Terrors, possible PTSD, permanent fatigue as a result of never being able to sleep properly, horrific scaring, the list goes on for almost a page and a half. Chief Medicae Berach''s notes indicate that a large number of these problems may be alleviated, but probably not solved, by being assigned to a planetside post.
The obvious solution is to assign her to one of House Von Sebastion''s ground-bound factors, probably as the head of security. You ponder over where you could do so without displacing an existing competent commander.
Then the answer hits you like a runaway servitor: Dagda. Open a new factor on Dagda, assign Morrigan as the obvious head of security given her demonstrated compliance aboard ship and her familiarity with Dagda. You should probably also assign Vir there as well, to give Morrigan someone familiar to talk with. Plus you are sure the two are engaged, so breaking them up would be a rather dickish move. You scribble the appropriate notes into a dataslate and set it aside. Both Morrigan and Vir will need replacements in the long term. Adam is perfectly satisfactory as a chaplain, but not as a commanding officer. Your thoughts are interrupted by Zheeves pinging your microbead.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"Zheeves here sir. The Tau accepted your modifications without complaint. Repairs are set to commence inside of the hour, and I''m on my way to your office with the cargo manifest."
A short while later you and Zheeves are both pouring over the cargo manifest. It''s not long, and you could have fit all of it into two or three cargo bays easily. The bulk of it reads plainly, given its eventual destination of the Outbound system: foodstuffs, prefab structure components, construction equipment, and other things that a new colony would need.The few bits that do stick out to you are the passengers. You cock an eyebrow at Zheeves, " ''Gue''la Earth Caste engineers and technicians plus Gue''vesa escort''?"
Zheeves shrugs, "I asked the same question. Humans familiar enough with Tau technology to make sure all of the technical cargo gets used correctly, plus more humans to make sure they don''t get mugged. They felt that sending actual Tau would likely draw too much attention of the wrong sort."
You snort, "damned smart of them. Well, it looks like we can deliver this cargo without worry, drop off an information package for Lord Pyrus, and then start in on another project."
Zheeves looks at you in mock horror, "not rebuilding another ship I hope!"
You shake your head, "nothing so spectacular. I got the reports back on Morrigan and the others."
Zheeves looks serious, "so did I Sir. I take it you will need a replacement?"
You nod, "yes, but also a retirement package for Morrigan. I was wondering if there are enough opportunities on Dagda to open a factor there? Assign Morrigan as head of security and Vir as the resident Astropath as sinecure positions and still make use of their services?"
Zheeves looks thoughtful, "having a local in charge of security would minimize the risk nicely, particularly if the security staff and some of the other positions were also filled by locals. Exports would be Dagda whisky and fine spirits, import medical goods and foodstuffs...? I''ll dig through my files, but it just might work. Not a huge profit maker, but a reliable one if personnel losses can be minimized."
You stand up, signaling and end to the meeting, "Do so. I''m going to check on Jace, see how the repairs are coming."
Zheeves gathers up his dataslates and wanders out. You can all but here the tinkle sound of coin-on-coin in his stride. You shake your head and make for the damaged sections of the Aegis.
A long walk later...
Finding a convenient observation blister, you stare out across the mangled underside of the Aegis. The sputtering-sparkles of welders and cutters circle most of the damaged areas were deformed or overstressed metal is being cut away. You stand in solitude for some time, brooding over the cost of doing business at and past the edges of the Imperium.
"Your Fio''shas is quite efficient, Kor''el Von Sebastion. I expect that you will be able to load the cargo inside of the rotaa, and ready for departure in a further three."
You turn, your hand dropping to the hilt of Serpent¡¯s Breath, and stare at the figure standing in the doorway to the blister. Human, female, blond scalp-lock, blue eyes, flowing light-blue dress. Tall, low-grav thin, but with the lean look of an athlete.
She bows, "Facilitator Mu''randa, at your service. Head of the delegation to Outbound.¡±
You find your voice, "how did you manage to find me and reach me without some overzealous crewman lynching you?
Mu''randa bows, "That is what Facilitators do, find the people they need to talk to and talk to them. I thought you would like an update on when the Aegis would be ready to depart."
You release Serpent¡¯s Breath, "That is useful information, assuming I had any idea what a ''rotaa'' is."
Mu''randa blinks, then blinks again, "ah. I had forgotten that not everyone has grown up within the Empire. A rotaa is about one imperial day. Would you like to look over your cargo in person, or do you have other pressing business?"
Chapter 42: Returning to Imperial Space
You gesture for Mu''randa to lead the way, "three days sounds good, but Jace did want to give the Warp Engine a look over given how rough out last transit was. With an Imperial shipyard and all of its resources, that''s a five day job on its own."
Mu''randa nods her head in acceptance and leads you down the corridor, "the Fio''shas did indicate that he wanted to perform diagnostics, but a complete rebuild seems quite excessive. If the engine is functioning properly, then surely it will continue to do so?"
You put your hand to your face, "I don''t know how you do it in your Empire, but we Imperials don''t rut about with the Warp. Take a look at the discarded armor plating from the Aegis'' sides; note the tooth, claw, and tentacle marks. Or what happened to the Cambrian. So if my Enginseer Primus wants to take a look at the Warp Engine, then he has my full backing."
Mu''randa almost trips over a stray CAT, "you have news of the Cambrian? What happened to her?"
You shrug, "her Gellar Field wasn''t up to a Warp storm, so she almost became a snack for one of the big Dwellers in the Warp. As a result, she is stuck in orbit over Vrenna."
Mu''randa gestures to several unusual looking cargo pallets as you enter the hold, "So that''s what the unusual generators were for, and why there were so many of them in her core hull. I''ll have to send to the Fio''ve and the Kor''ve to let them know."
You lean over, looking at what you presume to be prefabricated structure components, "I''m just a layman when it comes to how the bolts and cogs actually work, but Jace probably knows more."If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Mu''randa makes a note on what you assume to be a dataslate of some kind, "I''ll point one of the Fio''vre at him to swap technical documents, I certainly can''t get my head around practical metaphysics or quantum waveform generators. On an unrelated note, does the Aegis still have a training area, or do you not carry Shas''la?"
You raise an eyebrow at Mu''randa, "you do realize that I''m guessing based on context every time you pull out one of those Tau throat-twisters? The Aegis does carry armsmen, and the requisite training facilities. Firing ranges are in Cargo Bay Seven, but cross check with Adam Mantium for available times."
It is Mu''randa''s turn to raise an eyebrow, "the missionary? Why?"
You shrug, "Bosun Morrigan is still in the sickbay under observation after dealing with the Incursion. Adam is the acting Bosun at the moment."
Mu''randa nods, and gestures to the next stack of cargo palettes, "ah, iur''tae''mont, I understand. Shall we continue?"
The inspection continues as you look over the various goods and items that you are ferrying to the Outbound system. You leave Mu''randa to check in with the rest of her delegation and continue onward looking for Jace. As you leave Mu''randa behind, you can''t help but think damn, she has a nice ass.
Seven days later, once Jace is fully satisfied with all of the repairs, and even the Tau engineers are impressed by his thoroughness, the Aegis departs for the Outbound system. Yasha is fully healed and rested, and it shows in the smoothness of the transit. Two days of offloading later, you are ready to depart for the Dagda system. Zheeves has already set arrangements in motion, and Morrigan and Vir are both looking forward to their new posts. You are leaning back in you cabin avoiding dealing with the usual reports when a signal comes in over your microbead. You frown, not expecting any calls, "Tristan here."
"Mu''randa here Kor''el Von Sebastion. I was wondering where I should set up the liaison office to coordinate future shipping contracts, as you have no base of operations on Vrenna."
Chapter 43: Welcome to Dagda
You don¡¯t think too much of the matter before responding to Mu¡¯randa, ¡°House Von Sebastion is in the process of creating a new office on Dagda in the Tuatha system, so incorporating your liaison office into it shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem.¡±
¡±Excellent, that arrangement should do nicely. I assume that you would not mind ferrying me there?¡±
You roll your eyes, safe in the assurance that the signal is audio only, ¡°It would be rather hard to do so otherwise. Same rules would apply at a minimum as they would on Vrenna however. Humans only, as the Imperium isn¡¯t very tolerant of non-humans.¡±
¡±Of course. My superiors are hoping to set up Vrenna and the Outbound system as something of an interface to alleviate some of the problems along that line.¡±
You nod to yourself, ¡°that would ease the threat of some xenophobe merchant skipper of pulling the trigger and starting a Diplomatic Incident.¡±
¡±You mean that the Aegis is not the ship you intend to devote to these cargo runs?¡±
You snort, ¡°not permanently, no. I¡¯ll probably need to sieve personnel to find appropriate skippers for the assignment, as well as procure additional ships. The Aegis is too versatile of a command to tie down on this kind of thing.¡±
¡±I¡¯m sure the Empire¡¡±
You cut Mu¡¯randa off right there, ¡°not worth the extra hassle on the Imperial side. I¡¯m already straining one rather valuable set of contacts as it is. Bringing in non-Imperial ships and crews would draw additional ire, and in all likelihood, incoming fire as well. I¡¯ll be putting out feelers for a sturdy transport and a skipper who can keep his mouth shut. It may take some time, but I¡¯d rather play it safe than wind up dead.¡±
Nine Months Later¡
You are sitting in your Aegis offices in orbit over the Dagda Branch, as it has come to be known by its occupants. Zheeves has been his usual efficient self, and local connections are already being paired with export and import needs. Right now, charter skippers are carrying the cargoes, and House Von Sebastion is only collecting the brokerage fees, but those are not inconsequential sums, given the volume and value of the trade.
Morrigan is doing much better for being home, and knowing that she is going to be assigned there until her retirement. She still has a full range of tics and twitches, but they have diminished significantly with time. The Night Terrors, on the other hand, have not abated much.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Vir is helping with that, and the two have very quietly let word out as to their upcoming marriage. It is scheduled for early in the Dagdan springtime, which puts it about two weeks away. Adam Mantium is presiding over the ceremony, of course, and most of the Aegis¡¯ bridge crew is invited, including Mu¡¯randa.
She has proven quite helpful in establishing the offices, and assisting Zheeves with sorting through applications from merchant skippers to work for the house. Despite her Tau connections, or perhaps because of them, you are contemplating keeping her aboard the Aegis as your official communications officer, instead of that post being filled by whomever is closest at the time.
You shrug, and decide to just ask her. The worst she could do is say no, after all. You scribble down a note to do so the next time you see her. As you riffle through some other notes, checking for anything you need to do today, someone knocks on the hatch. You make the proper noises, and the hatch opens.
Zheeves and Mu''randa enter. You cock an eyebrow, and gesture for them to sit, "so what brings the both of you all the way up here instead of simply picking up the com?"
They take to offered seats. Zheeves looks his usual collected self, while Mu''randa is frigidity. Zheeves speaks first, "three things Sir. First, we may have found a skipper and ship for the Outbound run, but he comes recommended by our... less than visible contacts. Second, those same contacts have also offered us a contract that may well be the first step towards reclaiming the Terra Incarnadine. Third, Mu''randa here has some things to ask you in person, and not in her official capacity as a Tau Facilitator."
You lean back in your chair, "The first two involve things i''d rather not reveal to any outsider, so We''ll start with the third. Mu''randa?"
Mu''randa visibly takes a deep breath, "Working with Zheeves and yourself this past month has shown me quite a few things that the Empire would rather I not see. Notably the way you treat your people, like Morrigan. In the Empire, she probably would have simply vanished, a warrior unable to contribute. Instead, you went and found a job for here where she can heal and still serve. And you even assigned Vir to work alongside of her, despite his valuable skills.
"What I''m getting at is that I would rather work for you than the Empire. Unorthodox, and probably dangerous, I''m sure, but I feel I could be of quite some use to House Von Sebastion, instead of crushed between the Empire''s uncaring gears."
You blink slowly, considering as many of the angles as you can wrap your head around. Aside from her name, Mu''randa could pass unnoticed on damn near any Imperial world so long as she was careful. As to faithfulness to your House, loyalty down begets loyalty up, and if that is the reason that she wants to change sides, that shouldn''t prove an issue. The Heretic in the deck is Lord Pyrus and your inquisition contacts. Pyrus would probably insist on a Mind Scan, at minimum, and you have no idea how his Inquisition Handler will react.
On the other side of that question, they haven''t objected to the Aegis'' repairs, or to the information you have dropped off about the Nil''kvee system and its inhabitants. So you figure that you are probably safe. You can see Mu''randa staring at you intently, her hands nervously clenching and releasing as she awaits your answer.
Chapter 44: Men in Black
You hardly have to think about Mu¡¯randa¡¯s offer, ¡°of course I¡¯d be more than happy to accept your services. The only open position at the moment is that of the Communications Officer aboard the Aegis, which would require you to learn some basic weapon handling skills.¡±
At Mu¡¯randa¡¯s raised eyebrow, you explain, ¡°the Aegis will be operating in less than friendly territory on a regular basis, so every crew member is expected to be able to defend themselves. We¡¯ll be at anchor here at Dagda until we can get a new Astropath and Bosun, so Morrigan may be able to help train you.¡±
Mu¡¯randa nods in understanding, ¡°That offer sounds more than generous. I accept.¡±
You shake her hand, ¡°Welcome aboard. Now, doubling back to Zheeves¡¯ other two points.¡± You turn in your chair to face Zheeves more squarely, ¡°Time to give Mu¡¯randa the framework for the other two points, and why we¡¯re hesitant to jump on the proffered opportunity?¡±
Zheeves¡¯ furrows his brow for a moment, ordering his thoughts, ¡°may I presume that you are familiar with the basic structure of Imperial Government Mu¡¯randa?¡±
Mu¡¯randa nods, ¡°Planetary governors get to rule their worlds as they see fit so long as they pay their taxes and follow instructions from Sub-Sector, Sector, and Segmentum Commands.¡±
Zheeves nods, ¡°local customs vary, but that is the broad stroke of things. There are two other groups that are important in this case however: the High Lords of Terra, who issue the orders to the Segmentum Commands, and the Imperial Organizations who only answer to the High Lords.¡±
Mu¡¯randa is clearly taking mental notes, ¡°these other Imperial Organizations operate outside of the usual chain of command?¡±
Zheeves grins, ¡°yes, and that includes both House Von Sebastion, as we are a Rogue Trader House, and our ¡®less visible contacts¡¯. Our job is to explore around the edges of the Imperium, pushing her borders. In exchange for more-or-less complete autonomy to do so, we have to pay our own way, hence the offices on Viking and Dagda, among others. Our ¡®less visible contact¡¯ in this case is one Inquisitor Olaf Ironsides of the Ordo Xenos. The Inquisition basically is there to make sure everyone is doing their jobs properly, but they usually only deal with particularly egregious cases, and point the local authorities at the rest. They are rather secretive, but the general gist is that there are broken down into several sub-divisions, called Ordos, each one specializing in a particular kind of problem.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Mu¡¯randa¡¯s brow furrows, ¡°and this Inquisitor Ironsides is why you refused help from the Tau Empire on the Outbound Run?¡±
Zheeves nods somberly, ¡°yes. The Ordo Xenos typically deals with problems relating to non-human races infiltrating Imperial space or subverting Imperial authority.¡±
You interject, ¡°I take it that Inquisitor Ironsides is Lord Pyrus¡¯ handler?¡±
Zheeves shrugs, ¡°according to the messages left in the Viking dead-drop under Lord Pyrus¡¯ signature, yes.¡±
You sit upright, taking command of the meeting again, ¡°We¡¯ll take that as writ until Lord Pyrus or another Inquisitor tells us otherwise. Back to the prospective ship and shipmaster for the Outbound Run. Who is he, and why does he carry Inquisitor Ironsides¡¯ recommendation?¡±
Zheeves consults his dataslate, ¡°one Mira Steele, commanding the Leaf, a Longstop-class transporter. Details on Ms. Steele are scant, aside from the notation that she has served Inquisitor Ironsides with distinction and discretion for quite some time. As to the Leaf itself, it¡¯s a fairly typical for a Longstop; five hundred tons of cargo capacity across fifty compartmentalized cargo bays, one main battery turret for self-defense, and heavy Void Shields.
¡°The biggest risk in this case is that Ms. Steele would simply vanish with a particularly valuable or important cargo, which would leave House Von Sebastion holding the bag as far as the Tau Empire is concerned.¡±
Mu¡¯randa speaks up, ¡°rather less so that you might think. They offered the Aegis the run both because they figured a human ship would draw less attention, but also because it would eliminate the risk of losing a Tau ship should anything happen. Ergo, any blame can be deflected to ¡®causes unknown¡¯, so long as the first few runs go off properly.¡±
You scratch your chin for a moment, ¡°She¡¯ll do. Same communications channels, or will she have her own separate ones?¡±
Zheeves shrugs, ¡°the Leaf will have its own Astropath, so she will probably have her own, But I¡¯ll check anyway.¡± He ticks off something on his dataslate, ¡°and that brings us to the potential new contract. Inquisitor Ironsides wants to meet us on Viking, to discuss the possibility of inserting a team onto the HJG-1034 station.¡±
You look to Mu¡¯randa, ¡°I¡¯m inclined to go for it, but Zheeves is probably against it, being his usual cautious self. So, your opinion?¡±
Mu¡¯randa thinks hard for a long moment, ¡°I¡¯m inclined to say accept the contract, but mostly because the Inquisition sounds like a bad organization to vex unduly.¡±
Zheeves nods, ¡°which is why we¡¯ll be heading out to Viking as soon as we have the needed officers. Any preferences on where to recruit them from sir?¡±
Chapter 45: Morrigans Ball
You shrug, "Perhaps one of the locals will do well at the Bosun? It won''t hurt to ask about at least. As for the Astropath, there should be an extra aboard a ship somewhere. if not here, then back in Viking perhaps." You rise, signaling an end to the meeting, "in any case, that should be everything for the day. Zheeves, make sure Inquisitor Ironsides is aware of or position, and the reason we aren''t rushing right on over."
Two weeks later...
The wedding of Vir and Morrigan was a quiet success. A small ceremony, just after sunrise, on the dew-laden grass on a hilltop overlooking the bay. Vows were spoken and Oaths taken, rings were exchanged, and everyone got down to the serious business of the day: the party.
The reception, back in the Dagda Offices reception hall, is a far more boisterous affair. It has lasted the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon, with ale flowing freely and no signs of slowing down. Goibihniu provided the ale, but he is back at The Fen fetching more, having left the fire-haired Elena MacWater to tend the bar in his absence. Morrigan and Vir are circling among the small gathering. Jace is nowhere to be seen, but he''s not much for social events, so you think nothing of it. Frank and Simo are swapping war stories with Morrigan''s family, and Mu''randa is drifting about unobtrusively. Zheeves is, as is his usual, mingling with the guests, talking business and seeking deals and contacts.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
You drift over to the bar for another drink, but stop short when you hear the authoritative CRASH of a fist against the great doors at the end of the hall. The music falters, the guests draw back, and the door groans open. You see Elena''s eyes go wide as she dives behind the bar. You turn and stride towards the slowly opening door, "who dares to intrude upon my hall?"
A fur-clad figure strides in, sword and shield in hand, "Daniel MacDhuibh does! Here to collect the blood-debt the thrice-damned MacWater owes me for slaying me kin!"
Your eyes are on his followers, a dozen ragged men in furs and clan-garb. You hear the click of weapons being primed all across the hall as you step forward, "You would come uninvited into my hall, on the day of a wedding no less, and seek to claim the life of a person within it?"
Daniel''s eyes glance about, catching sight of the attire and faces of the people in the hall. His mouth sets into a grim line, "I dinna know it was a weddin'', but a clan-feud is a clan-feud, and me honor rests on fufillin'' me oath to avenge me kin."
Catching sight of the raw anger Morrigan''s face, you throw back your head and laugh, "My honor rests on defending any and all guests in my hall. So you have to ask yourself one question. ''Do I feel lucky?'' Well, do you, Danny-boy?"
Daniel''s face twists into a mask of rage, and he charges you.
Chapter 46: Drop the Hammer
You draw Serpentsbreath and sidestep. Daniel goes charging on past you and trips over Morrigan''s slipper-clad foot.
She promptly steps on his back and stares at his men. They haven''t taken more than a few steps, and come stumbling to a halt when they see the various firearms in peoples hands and the look of absolute disgust on Morrigan''s face.
You take a moment to glance over at the bar, where Elena has re-appeared with a pair of bolt pistols in hand. you sigh in relief, but don''t sheath Serpentsbreath, "Time to get to the bottom of this before somebody gets killed. Elena, why does Daniel here want your head on a plate?"
Elena looks nervous, but answers in a calm tenor, "His brother Tavish mistook me for a wench and asked the price of a romp. I told him no, but he followed me into the back when I went to take a piss. I told him to leave, but he got grabby. So I kicked his ass up between his ears, took his guns, and left him face-down in his own puke."
Daniel lets go of his sword, which Morrigan promptly kicks away, and rest his head on the floor, "That sounds like Tavish, the dumb git. Found him puke-stained and weaponless in the gutter, bleeding from a busted nose."
Morrigan all but doubles over in laughter, "So ye almost picked a clan-war with House Von Sebastion, House Saurlance, and House Dannan, and pissed of Goibihniu in the bargain, all over a barmaid?"Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Daniel sighs, "aye. Sounds dumb when ye put it like that. Will ye accept weregild instead of me head?"
Morrigan manages to look serous for a moment, "yes. Go help Goibihniu fetch the next round of ale, and we''ll discuss it." She helps him to his feet and hands him his sword.
Daniel nods his thanks, "right lads, ye heard the Lady of the Dance. let''s go haul some kegs!"
He and his men head out, and everyone starts putting blades and guns away. You nod to Zheeves, who follows Daniel out the door. Satisfied that he will keep his word, or at least not cause any more trouble, you return you gaze to Elena, "So with Morrigan taking on a position here, I need someone to fill her role off-world. Are you interested?"
Elena holsters her bolt pistols, "What''d it entail?"
You shrug, "Leading men, kicking ass, and taking names where needed."
Elena shrugs, "well, I led a clan ''fore they got killed by pieholes, and it''d beat slinging beer to Tavishes, so I''m in."
You hear the boisterous noise of a group of people approaching your hall, "It looks like I''ve got more guests to greet. Stick around after the party, we can talk more then."
You sheath Serpentsbreath and turn to the still-open door, wondering if Goibihniu is back already. Instead, you are greeted by the sight of Direwolf walking in, a keg on one shoulder and a wine barrel on the other. With him is a bald, pot bellied man clad in dark robes, his face adorned by an epic fire-red mustache and beard.
Chapter 47: Of Headaches and Mindbenders 2
You leave Elena at the bar and approach you guests, "Direwolf! and Lord Ironsides, I presume?"
Direwolf grins, and you wave him towards the bar to put his packages down. Olaf, returns your grin and holds his hand out, "Master Von Sebastion! Your reception is as grand as your reputation! Pardon me for not calling ahead, we just made port."
You take his hand, wrist to wrist as warriors do, "Not a problem! I assume you wanted to discuss that matter in private over a good glass of something strong?¡±
Olaf holds your wrist and nods, "yes, and the sooner the better."
You nod and extract your hand from his grasp to waive Mu''randa over, "Mu''randa here will lead you to the library. I''ll be along as soon as I can let Morrigan and Vir know that they are on their own."
Olaf follows Mu''randa off, making what you hope to be innocent small talk. You find Vir, and let him know what''s going on, and then head off after Olaf.
A few moments later...
You enter the library to find Olaf and Mu''randa discussing the virtues and vices of psykers over what looks to be strong wine. You pour yourself a glass and sit down with them.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Mu''randa nods at your entrance, but gets one last question in, "so there is no reliable and safe way to boost the range of an astropath?"
Olaf shakes his head, "it comes down to the inherent strength or weakness of the astropath in question, and Kudo is rather good. Ah, Master Von Sebastion, good of you to join us."
"But of course Inquisitor Ironsides. As to this expedition to HJG-1034, what support are you requesting?"
Olaf leans back and takes another sip, clearly buying time, "information, first and foremost. I understand you conducted a survey of the system recently?"
"Yes, a typical Hazards to Spacers survey. Is there anything in particular that you needed to know?"
"Was there any change in the station itself?"
You shrug, "we emerged too close to the station due to a warp storm, and salvaged some material from an incomplete ship to make repairs. We didn''t board the station itself, so I have no idea what if anything may be aboard it."
Olaf shrugs, "so no pre-insertion intelligence for the Deathwatch then. As to the contract itself, I would appreciate having the Aegis along as an escort, to cover the Mavros while she inserts a team aboard the station."
You nod, "That can be arranged. My Enginseer Primus may also have a store of CATs for recon purposes, though he would need to land them aboard the station itself."
It is Olaf''s turn to nod, "The support of your Enginseers would be appreciated, but any personnel would have to be under tight rein. no point in waking anything aboard that station before we are ready to retake it."
You pour yourself a glass of wine, "I might be able to scare up a few bodies for boarding parties, but you are right, the fewer the better."
Chapter 48: Back in the Void
You lean back, "If I''m sending Jace aboard, then I''m sending a few men with him. Probably Elena, my bosun, Adam, my chaplain, and a few grunts. Elena to lead the Grunts, and Adam in case of any warp-taint. The Deathwatch will lead the way, unless you have another mission for them?"
Olaf takes another swallow of wine, "Yes and no. The Deathwatch are going to be tasked with retrieving maintenance logs and surveillance camera data. Something put the shipyard out of commission three hundred and forty-two years ago, and my first objective is to find out what, and how. To that end, they will be dispatched on their own tasks aboard the main station."
You take a sip, "might I suggest that our initial landing zone be aboard the docked ship that we previously scavenged parts from? We encountered no resistance the last time we were there, though I am not sure why."
It is Olaf''s turn to lean back, "certainly a valuable suggestion. More detailed planning will have to wait for later however. I think I hear Direwolf staring up a Saga, and those are always worth hearing."
Two and a half weeks, and one quiet warp transit later...
You stand aboard the bridge of the Aegis as the Mavros re-enters realspace at the edge of the HJG-1034 system. The shipyard, still shrouded in its debris field, lies in front of you. moments later, Mu''randa speaks up, "Signal from the Mavros for you Sir."If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
You nod, "Relay it to the holotable Mu''randa."
Olaf is promptly projected in miniature standing upon the holotable, "It seems we''ve hit a snag, Master Von Sebastion. There is no way to get the Mavros or the Aegis close enough to dock, and no way for shuttles to make the number of runs needed, not without undue risk."
You grin back at him, "The Mavros, no. she doesn''t have the maneuverability to pull it off. The Aegis, on the other hand, does. There should be a ''thin'' spot in the debris field aft of the Terra Incarnadine, from all the debris we had to vaporize last time. We''ll probably take some damage, but considering we''re docking with a shipyard...
The miniature Olaf paces back and forth. Finally he shakes his head, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained I suppose. We''ll be coming aboard before you make your run in. Ventral Bay Two, I presume?"
You nod, "correct, Inquisitor. I''ll be seeing you soon." You turn to the view ports and stare at the shipyard. You get the feeling that something momentous is going to occur rather soon.
The Inquisitor''s shuttle has docked, and Olaf has joined you on the bridge. Frank lines the Aegis up, and dives into the debris field.
Simo is promptly put to work, blasting debris aside. The void shields hold for a time, but eventually give out under the onslaught of micro-shrapnel.
Soon afterwards, Frank puts the Aegis through an aileron roll around a stray docking arm, and drifts to a stop in the clear area around the Terra Incarnadine.
Olaf looks impressed at the display of skill involved, and rightly so. You order the Swallow prepped, and for Jace to load the CATs. The largest question on the table is where do you dock.
Chapter 49: Dead Things Walking
You direct Frank to place the Aegis in the shadow of the Terra Incarnadine and to prepare to send shuttles across.
Frank lets you know that doing so on thrusters only will be slow, but that is fine with you, as it will give Jace some time to work with the sensors and get a bit more information on the Terra Incarnadine and the shipyard.
Two days later¡
You gather down in Ventral docking bay two, where a space-marine sized conference table has been squeezed into a corner, along with chairs capable of taking their weight and that of their full battle gear. Its early in the day, so caff and assorted breakfast foods are available. You lean back and cock an eye at Jace, who is performing percussive maintenance on a stubborn portable hologram projector at one end of the conference table.
He hits it one last time, and a slowly-rotating test image appears, "sorry sir, I didn''t expect this to be quite so recalcitrant."
You take a sip of coffee, "I didn''t know we had a spare one laying about.¡±
Jace shrugs, "We didn''t. I got bored."
You are saved from responding by the arrival of Yasha, Adam, Elena, Olaf, and Lord Pyrus, who file in and claim various seats and mugs. Lord Pyrus is in full regalia, complete with sword and staff. Direwolf is nowhere to be seen, but Rubicon comes clumping in loaded for war.
You feel your eyebrows climbing up into your hair as he claims two entire pitchers of Caff and finds a seat. In addition to his usual boltgun, bolt pistol and chainsword, he has three bandoleers of grenades, an autocannon, and enough ammunition to arm a squad for a month''s worth of war. He meets your eyes, " ''morning, Shipmaster."
You shake your head briefly, catching an amused look on Lord Pyrus'' face, "good morning to you as well Rubicon. Jace, I trust that you have some new information for us?"If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Jace nods to you, and bows to the Space Marines and the Inquisitor before continuing, "indeed I do. please bear in mind that this is still preliminary: the raw amount of data from each CAT still operational on the Terra Incarnadine after almost a year is immense, and will take at least a full day to process. Given the twenty-three remaining active units, that time frame can be expected to grow somewhat as new data is gleaned. However, the sensor sweeps and what CAT data I have been able to skim has confirmed that the Terra Incarnadine is free of any signs of life."
Jace activates the projector, bring up a semi-detailed schematic of the shipyard, "indeed, the scans of the HJG-1034 Shipyard, named Gibil, also show it to be devoid of all life signs. Gibil''s bulk is large enough to shield some of the central sections, such as the macro-forges, asteroid refineries, and control centers. Thus, the presence of living entities cannot be ruled out entirely. The chance of their presence is no more than seven point seven nine six percent however, due to the total lack of notable power generation aboard Gibil."
Olaf frowns into his mug, "This does sound rather ominous. I purpose that the Deathwatch team makes for the control centers aboard Gibil, with the aim of retrieving maintenance logs or other data to determine the fate of the stations inhabitants. Shipmaster, where do you propose to deploy your team?"
You don''t have to think very hard, "Aboard the Terra Incarnadine, to investigate her with an eye towards salvage. At least until the Deathwatch turns up something that will require additional firepower or manpower. Jace will also deploy CATs to Gibil via the docking arms to gather more data on the station. Who knows, they may even turn up something useful."
Lord Pyrus nods, "a sound, if conservative, division of labor."
You shrug, "I''ve enough bad dreams about retrieving the Aegis, so I''m treating Gibil will all due caution. Particularly given how few armsmen I have available at the moment. Better to be over-cautious and take an extra week or three then charge in and awaken something better left sleeping. Speaking of, any signs of warp-taint Yasha?"
Yasha shrugs, a bemused look on her face, "I''ve detected nothing. Kudo, our new Astropath, has likewise found nothing but silence and stillness, so warp-taint is likely not present. The stillness is almost too quiet however. I''ve not felt its like anywhere else."
You shrug, "sounds like I''m probably being a tad too conservative then. Would you care to suggest a target aboard the Terra Incarnadine Jace? An area you would like to investigate first, given you experience in ship construction?"
Jace shuts off the projector, "normally, I''d suggest the bridge, but that part of the Terra Incarnadine isn''t fully constructed yet, so either the aft enginseering spaces or the prow sensor array may yield valuable information, in addition to what the CATs have surveyed."
Chapter 50: Metal Machines
You nod to Jace, "aft enginseering spaces I think, as the sensor array is going to need power. Once we have that turned on, perhaps we can use the Terra Incarnadine''s sensors and perhaps ''see'' deeper into Gibli."
Jace nods, "a logical course of action. I will, of course, continue to monitor the CATs to attempt to develop more intelligence on both Gibli and the Terra Incarnadine."
Olaf stands, "If that is everything, then we can begin as soon as preparations are complete."
A few hours later...
You re-board the Terra Incarnadine within sight of one of Gibli''s main docking arms. The Deathwatch Marines head down it, following the CATs released hours before. They promptly vanish from sight in the gloom.
You wave for Jace to lead the way. He nods and heads off, trailed by Adam, Leroy, and Jenkins. Olaf, Yasha, and yourself occupy the middle of the party, with Elena and your five remaining armsmen bringing up the rear. Everyone is slightly on edge, unsure of what the Space Marines might disturb on the station.
Several hours and long hallways later¡
Your party emerges into the aft Enginseering spaces, and you look down upon the Terra Incarnadine¡¯s main plasma reactor chamber. something promptly strikes you as distinctly unusual, "Jace, why is everything slightly too large for a human?"
Jace blinks, startled by your question, and looks about the chamber, "curious. In addition to the anomalies that you mentioned, the iconography is all wrong for an Adeptus Mechanicus ship. It is not Imperial Navy, either. Scanning..."The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Olaf slowly turns around, taking in the chamber, "I''m seeing Space Marine iconography here, but the colors are all wrong." He points to one insignia, a set of red angel wings flanking a silver sword atop a black circle, "That is the Dark Angels Chapter device, but theirs is white wings on a green circle, not red and black."
Jace cocks his head, "scan complete. Matches found. Iconography is Dark Angels Space Marine Legion iconography. The insignia Inquisitor Olaf is indicating is in original Legion colors. This is consistent with the scale of the control stations and other equipment: they are thirty percent taller than Adeptus Mechanicus standards to accommodate use by Space Marines."
Jace cocks his head in the other direction, "comparing to external imagery of the Terra Incarnadine. Additional anomalies detected: sensors and weapon fits, as evidenced by their profiles, are a mixture of Adeptus Mechanicus, Space Marine, and standard Imperial Navy components. Hypothesis: the Terra Incarnadine was being constructed from the salvaged remains of two or more destroyed ships."
You nod slowly, "just getting merchant standard parts to repair the Aegis was expensive enough, so using salvaged parts would make sense. Get the plasma drive back online Jace. We need more information from Gibli, and the Terra Incarnadine¡¯s sensors and logs may be the safest way to get it. Yasha, are you picking up anything that we are missing?"
Yasha slowly turns in place with her eyes closed, "nothing new. Just silence and stillness, almost like a tomb."
Jace drags a box over to what you presume to be the main control console for the plasma drive. He stands on it, like a child peering over the kitchen table, and stops cold. "Unexpected. The reactor is at tick-over levels according to all of the readouts here. Beginning reactivation sequence."
Olaf grabs at his microbead, "say again Direwolf." He frowns, "proceed with the mission. Cautiously, of course."
You cock an eyebrow at him, though you have to shout over the rising hum of the plasma drive, "problems Inquisitor?"
Olaf shakes his head and shouts back "I hope not."
The hum builds to an unholy whine before dropping into the familiar background thrum of a ship under power. The lights flicker on, banishing the shadows lurking in the corners. Jace steps down from the box, "main plasma drive online. The prow sensor array will need re-calibrated after being neglected for so long. I suggest the party head back for the Aegis to rest and restock while I had forward to begin this process."
Chapter 51: Metal Ripper
You look at Jace like he is an idiot and shake your head, "we stick together. Lead the way to the sensor array."
Several more hours and even more long, empty hallways later...
You arrive at the main sensors array, and Jace starts poking around. Opening maintenance hatches, tapping buttons and turning knobs. You set the armsmen to set up for a long watch and wait.
Not even five minutes later, Jace pauses and stares under the cover he just removed for a long moment. He puts it back without making any changes, "I may have the sensor array re-calibrated sooner than expected. Proceeding."
You glance over at Inquisitor Olaf, who has been suspiciously quiet for a while, "Any news from the Deathwatch?"If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Olaf shakes his head, "nothing. Which is probably a good thing."
You are about to ask more questions when a voice comes over a speaker in one of the control consoles, "power restored. System self-test complete. System self-calibration complete. Scanning local area. Scanning shipyard."
What alarms you isn''t the sudden announcement. You were half expecting something with Jace poking around. What alarms you is for all of the announcement stilted, mechanical phrasing, the voice wasn''t mechanical at all. It was deep and resonant, like a lone baritone in a concert hall. Consoles are lighting up all around you, data spilling across their displays far faster than you can read. Mu''randa is coming over your microbead, "Sir the Terra Incarnadine is, well, doing something."
Before you can even begin to respond, Olaf is grabbing his microbead, "Pyrus, confirm that."
The console screens flicker again, the green symbols flowing aside to reveal a readout of Gibli. The voice speaks again, "Local area scan complete. Shipyard scan complete. Three bio-forms detected: Adeptus Astartes from Legions Six, Thirteen, and Eighteen. Multiple automatons detected: unknown pattern. Estimated count: seventeen thousand of various types."
Olaf''s face has gone bone white, "Olaf to all Deathwatch. Omega. I say again, Omega, Omega, Omega. Necron presence confirmed. Fall back to the Aegis."
Chapter 52: Why did you Have to say That?
It only takes one look at Olaf''s face to decide that the fecal matter has well and truly hit the rotary air impeller. Still and all, it galls you to not make some sort of profit out of the whole affair, so your brain goes into planning overdrive mode, "Jace, can we get the Terra Incarnadine moving?"
Jace pauses, "not with any kind of finesse, and obviously it is unable to enter the Warp in its incomplete state..."
You roll your eyes and cut off his techno-babble stream, "just far enough to get it clear of the station when we blow it to hell somehow."
Olaf eyes narrow in thought, "you want to salvage this hulk?"
Jace emits that hash of noise that you have come to know as a laugh, "Compared to the Aegis when she first pulled into port? Salvaging the Terra Incarnadine would be easy. She has a resource collection / processing unit, a microforge, and power. If I don''t have to tools I need to fix her, I can make them. While it would be possible to fire the main drive from the Eningseering spaces, the Auxiliary Bridge is only a few hundred feet aft. Its open to the void, but all of the control runs are in place and functional."
You nod, "that''s our destination, let¡¯s move." You tap your microbead as Jace leads the way, "Tristan to Zheeves, Get the Aegis undocked and clearing a path for the Terra Incarnadine through the debris field. Don''t worry about the micro-shrapnel, just the stuff big enough to give us problems."
As Zheeves responds in the affirmative, you overhear Olaf notifying the Deathwatch of the change in plans. You can hear the gunfire over the open channel: the barking roar of bolters, the thunder of Rubicon¡¯s autocannon, and the hissing crackle of some kind of energy weapon.
As you seal your voidsuit and enter the half-finished auxiliary bridge, Jace is already working on the maneuvering controls. With everyone in a helmet, everything is over an open communications channel, as speaking is rather difficult in a vacuum. You point to the sensors and navigation plot, "Yasha, I''m going to need you to pick us a path out of here. I know Frank or Simo handles this normally, but your here and they aren''t."
Yasha rolls her neck as much as she can inside her voidsuit, "heck, I taught them a few things. Now lets see, structural integrity is going to be all but gone, so..."
You leave her to it, "Elena, organize the armsmen. Your call if you want to defend here or try and help the Deathwatch."
Elena looks around, glancing at the now-sealed hatch you entered from, and the starry expanse overhead, "buggered if we go, fucked if we stay. Leroy! Jenkins! cover the hatch! Adam, take the rest and watch the holes in the roof in case something decides to come crawling in!"
You take a seat at the helm controls as Jace heads for the weapons station, muttering something. "Yasha, when you have that course, pass it to me on the helm here. This thing might be a bit bigger than a cargo shuttle, but..."
Lord Pyrus chimes in, "We are aboard the Terra Incarnadine. blowing the docking arms now.¡±
You feel the deckplates give an ever so slight twitch, and you start applying some thrust, "Yasha, any time now would be good..."
Yasha starts feeding you helm orders, rolling your path along past the chunks of station too big for the Aegis to vaporize. You glance off a few of the smaller ones, gutting what few half-completed guns the Terra Incarnadine had. Finally the Aegis and the Terra Incarnadine are clear of the debris field. You lean back in the chair, you hands shaking and your face drenched in sweat that you can''t mop away. At some point during your escape, the Deathwatch Marines have joined you on the Auxilary Bridge. You swallow, "alright, now for part two. Anyone have any idea how to turn Gibli into so much scrap?"This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Direwolf shrugs, "overloading her plasma reactor might do the trick. Or detonate her hydrogen bunkers, if we have anything that can punch that deep."
Jace''s head cocks sideways, and you get the impression that he would be grinning like a madman if you could see his face. "I think we do. Simo, divert power to the Damocles. Authorization code beta-five-seven-omega-sigma-zero. Targeting coordinates incoming."
You check on the Deathwatch now that you have time to breath and Jace gets whatever the Damocles is going. Direwolf''s armor is badly damaged, his augmetic left arm shot away at the wrist. Rubicon is in better shape, but every single bandoleer and pouch is empty of munitions. Lord Pyrus just looks drained, leaning against the bulkhead as if he is falling asleep on his feet.
Simo comes in, cutting off your speculative thoughts, "Target coordinates received Jace. Damocles is requesting final firing confirmation."
Jace pulls up a view of the station on the largest screen in the room, "you are going to want to watch this, gentlemen and lady. Simo, firing authorization is ''skyfall''. You may fire when ready."
Aside from the rasp of various people breathing, everything is silent. The Aegis, belly-on to Gibli, actually recoils; its kilometer and a half, six megaton hull pushed by whatever it just fired. You can''t see the projectile, but its effects are evident. Gibli station is wreathed in fire for a long moment, before the hydrogen bunkers let go in a cataclysmic runaway chain-detonation incident. Roughly two-thirds of the shipyard is briefly engulfed in the heart of a newborn star, before the remnants are bathed in the heat of that same star''s fiery death.
Inquisitor Olaf is suitably impressed, "Master Von Sebastion, I had no idea that the Aegis was such a capable ship."
You shake your head, "neither did I. Jace?"
Jace blasts you with his laugh again, "like I said Sir, I got bored. Damocles is a kinetic strike system that offsets its low projectile mass with ultra-high velocity and a thermobaric secondary charge. On its own, it can probably wreck a standard city block or three. Targeting it on a hydrogen bunker magnified the effect a few thousand times."
Direwolf nods, "impressive. I guess the mission couldn''t have gone any worse overall. Gibli destroyed, with no chance of reconstruction, and no way of retrieving any of the technical data in its stores."
Mu''randa is in your ear, her voice tight with tension, "Warp signature detected form Gibli. Sir I think..."
You never find out what she thinks. A new voice cuts in over your microbead, "a most impressive feat, mortal. This round goes to you, but I shalt return. You will rue the day that you crossed Kamas the Technomancer."
Mu''randa''s voice returns, "...arp signature gone. Was that a teleportation event?"
You stare at Direwolf, "You had to go and say it didn''t you."
Direwolf can only shrug and toss up his remaining hand in a ''who, me?'' gesture.
You roll your eyes, "ok, part three. Getting everyone back to Dagda. Inquisitor Ironsides, I purpose that Jace get the Terra Incarnadine Warp-ready. At least enough for one trip to port. We''ll use Yasha as her navigator, she has pulled a similar feat with the Aegis. I''ll transfer over Mu''randa for communications and Frank for the helm. Zheeves will be in command of the Aegis, but she will need a navigator. If you have one to spare...?"
Olaf turns to look at Lord Pyrus, who just shrugs before responding, "I''m assuming the repairs will take several days, perhaps even a week or more? If that is the case, I can at least guide the Mavros well enough. I''m no Navigator, but I am powerful enough to track one, at least at short ranges, which would free up her Navigator for the Aegis. Inquisitor, I recommend you take passage on the Aegis for the trip however, as it will be the safest ship. I''m dispatching Rubicon and Direwolf to her, with all of the data we managed to collect and our reports.¡±
Olaf turns to look at you, "and what are your plans past that point?"
You start ticking off fingers, "in no particular order, start the repairs of the Terra Incarnadine, Check up on the Outbound trade route, and track down this Kamas fellow, probably to blow its head apart. But let''s get home first."
Chapter 53: Seven Kinds of Sideways
Getting the Terra Incarnadine back to Dagda proves to be a non-trivial challenge. First is the nearly month-long stretch of maintenance, sealing in the auxiliary bridge, adding temporary struts and gellar field generators that should hopefully allow her to survive a warp transit. Next is the transit itself, a slow and twitchy affair, punctuated by the creaking of the hull and whispers in the dark. Last is the revision to realspace; a slow affair permeated by the coppery smell of ozone.
Now in geosynchronous orbit over Dagda once more, You assign Jace to the Terra Incarnadine, with instructions to complete her as he deems fit. the resulting grin on his face is slightly horrific, but you figure the project should pay for itself, given the system''s asteroid belts. Crewing the ship is another matter. Where the Aegis needs a crew of twenty-six thousand, the Terra Incarnadine is going to need closer to three hundred thousand.
But that is a problem for another time. The Leaf has returned from her latest run to Outbound, bearing reports of trouble brewing. They are out of date by now, nearly two weeks old, but indicate strife brewing between the colonists and the Tau outpost in the system. Given that Mu''randa indicated that the Tau had arranged for the colonization effort, something is definitely fishy.
You order the Leaf to stand down for a refit cycle while you investigate. Bringing Mu''randa along is something of a calculated risk. She knows more about tau culture and diplomacy than anyone else, but her former employers / overlords might not take kindly to her defection. You shrug and decide to bring her anyway, she is a part of your crew after all.
The Aegis had made much better time to Dagda while you were waiting for the Terra Incarnadine to be Warp-ready, and is ready to leave as soon as you are. Instead, you order another week of rest and relaxation for the crew, thought he real purpose of the order is for Yasha to rest up properly. With some... personal... attention from yourself of course.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Finally, everything is ready to go. You depart the Dagda system with little fanfare, passing the now familiar unfinished bulk of the Terra Incarnadine.
The Warp transit to Outbound is smooth, though you are plagued by whispers. Half-words and sibilant hisses emanating for dark corners, laughter from empty rooms. when you check with Yasha, she reports some of the same things.
On arriving in the Outbound system, you are greeted by a sight that is both familiar and depressing to see: a war-torn world. The main colony sight is riven in two, a blackened strip of no-man''s-land separating what you presume to be warring factions. The Tau enclave in orbit is starting to grow the familiar bulk of weapon emplacements, presumably to defend itself or protect Tau interests on the planet below. The Warp Shrine location is still a crater, though you are sure that someone has been poking around the area, if the small clutch of tents is anything to go by.
Mu''randa has been fielding communication attempts nonstop since the Aegis'' arrival. As the Aegis settles into a vector designed to slowly overtake Vrenna, she hands you a summary.
Leafing through, you quickly grasp the gist of the situation: the Pilgrims are objecting to the presence of the Tau, where as the former crew of the Cambrian is defending it. The Tau are standing well clear of the civil war, but are looking into the disappearance of an investigation team from near the Warp Shrine.
This of course leaves you with something of a conundrum; who to help first, and how. The Tau are leery of routing trade through the system with the civil war going on, though they may be persuaded to continue the route direct from Nil''kvee, so that bit can keep for the moment.
Chapter 54: Six Ways to Sunday
You read the summary a little more thoroughly before calling anyone. The Pilgrims are accusing the crew of being Xenoists under the influence of the Tau, which is no small crime under a strict interpretation of Imperial law. You are sure that they are correct, given that you know that the Cambrian was at least partially of Tau construction.
The Cambrian''s crew are accusing the Pilgrims of both refusing to pay for the passage, and of harboring Chaos Cultists. You snort at the first claim: any good Rogue Trader knows to take his payment up front. The second claim is a bit more troubling, given that you have participated in destroying a Chaos Shrine on the world, and that the Tau have a missing investigation team that was last known to be near that battleground.
You decide to put in a message to the Tau first, letting them know what you intend to do. That way they won''t shoot at you (probably), and may even help you (hopefully). You leave Mu''randa the task of putting it into the proper diplomatic language, but the gist of it is that you intend to try and talk some sense into the idiots shooting at each other, and would appreciate any information that they may have or aid that they would lend to the task.
Their response comes a short while later. Stripped of all of the usual diplomat doublespeak, it is that they will get back to you soon, provided you don''t start shooting shit up without letting them know first, and have a good reason to do so. They seem to have no idea why the Pilgrims are objecting to their presence, given that they paid the freight for them to get here in the first place.
The pieces start to fall into place for you, all the more so when you catch a sheepish grin on Mu''randa''s face, "Mu''randa, did you have a hand in picking the colonists for this world?"
Her sheepish grin is in full force, "somewhat. My one-time superior Por''El Fralen just wanted a bunch of ex-Imperials, as he figured that they would be more amicable to a Tau presence and eventual ownership of the system. So I got him a batch of Redemptionists smart enough to get out from under the System Governor instead of burning everything to the ground."
You nod, "who would quite naturally object to any non-human presence in the system, and would quite happily resort to armed violence to do so. Thus flushing his plans out the airlock while dropping the blame on his desk."
Mu''randa shrugs, "probably somewhere between our desks. I suggested it, but he had to sign off on it, so it wouldn''t be my fault. But he only signed off on my suggestion, so it wouldn''t be his fault either. As to Chaos Cults, I''m honestly not entirely sure what they look like. I know all of you Imperials fear and / or hate them..."Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
You toss your head, "the bulk of them are annoyances, but comparatively harmless. Back-alley gangsters with a bloody motif, or bored aristocrats out for a bit of illicit fun. The slightly more dangerous ones actually bother with ''rituals'' or have some sort of objective. The really dangerous, or unlucky ones, actually have their ''pleas for power'' answered. In the last case, a full-on demonic invasion can be the result. If these Redemptionists are smart enough to want off-world, then they might be smart enough to fall into the second category.
"All right, here is what I want you to do. Getting a Redemptionist to face reality is neigh on impossible, so try to at least get a mission statement, or a more detailed list of their objections together. If all they want is to have Vrenna to themselves, then we can probably take the Cambrian''s crew off-world for them, hire them on to crew the Terra Incarnadine. As to the Tau in this outcome, we''d transfer cargoes in Nil''kvee instead of Outbound. Otherwise, just keep the Redemptionists talking instead of shooting for now.
"At the same time, see if the Cambrian''s crew has any more concrete details that we can look into. If the Redemptionists really are harboring a Chaos cult, then we''ll probably have to get the Tau''s assistance in burning them off this world altogether. You weren''t here last time the Aegis was, but we don''t want a bunch of cultists running around on this world. Trust me."
Mu''randa nods her assent, and gets to the tasks that you have assigned her. You also assign Simo to get a better scan of the hopefully former Chaos Shrine. It is unlikely that you will get anything that the Tau missed, but an extra set of eyes never hurt. You also have Kudo and Yasha give Vrenna a once-over using their warp-senses. The preliminary results are less than clear. There is some old warp-taint around the old Chaos Shrine, but there are also newer traces. Kudo indicates that there are always some around any large human habitation, from latent psykers and minor mutants, as well as the occasional cultist. But the numbers here aren''t adding up: there are enough traces for a hive-city of over a billion souls, much less the paltry half-million the Cambrian actually delivered.
A feeling of dread begins to creep over you as you recall how Robert greeted you when you offered the Cambrian assistance; ''thank the Gods.'' You are now all but certain that there is at least one cultist running around on Vrenna, which means the Cambrian''s crew may not be as far off the mark as you would have liked.
Mu''randa is busy, but you tap her on the shoulder with a critical question, "is there any sign of a Robert S. Pierre among either side?"
Mu''randa shakes her head and taps the mute button, "no. He was the head of the colonists as well as the owner of the Cambrian, but there is no sign of him now."
You nod your thanks and walk away before cursing viciously under your breath. You will probably get the Redemptionists to agree to let you to carry the Cambrian''s crew out of here, invoking Inquisitor Ironsides'' name if you have to. But the missing Tau have just become your top priority. Robert is definitely a Chaos Cultist, and that Investigation Team probably got far to close too something important before being disappeared permanently.
Chapter 55: Five Crows
Not wanting to intrude on Mu''randa again, you scribble a note onto a scrap of paper, instructing her to check in with the Tau and offer to help finding their missing Investigation team now that the colonists are less likely to start shooting things. She nods her acceptance, but never stops with the cooling words she is pouring into her microbead.
For your part, you head for your cabin. The data probably won''t be available for some time, and you will need a clear head to think, so a nap is in order.
Three hours later, you return to the bridge. Simo is at the Holotable with the scans of the site of the former Warp Shrine, now a small lake of craters, and the Tau''s positional data. as you expected, the Tau team vanished in uncomfortably close proximity to the Shrine''s location.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
A hovering datafile contains the hastily edited rosters of the Tau personnel, though you don''t bother to do more than glace through it. Mu''randa will make better headway with figuring out what useful information may exist about the missing Tau. Assuming that they aren''t dead at this point.
The only thing left to do is head down there and see if you can pick up a trail. Elena and Adam are must-brings, for their skill at arms and, in Adam''s case, experience fighting warp-touched foes. The Tau will be sending a few warriors as well as a translator / Facilitator, to make sure that their Team comes back safely. You scratch your slowly-growing beard in thought. Mu''randa would be quite useful as a diplomat, and Yasha is the only person who is capable enough psyker to alert the rest of the part to warp-taint. Kudo has a better skill set for doing so, but he is ancient and hunchbacked as well as blind.
Chapter 56: Four Horsemen
You add Yasha to the short list of people that you are bringing along. Mu''randa contacts the Tau, and arranges the meeting location and time. Dawn tomorrow, local time, at the same place you met the Eldar.
You get an itch between your shoulder blades. Out of an entire planet, the Tau pick the exact same location as the Eldar? You are fairly sure that this isn''t a coincidence. But without a concrete reason to give the Tau, changing the meeting location isn''t reasonable.
You check your weapons and spend a few hours at drill before turning in for the night.
Your sleep is troubled, but you cannot remember anything of your dreams upon waking.
Just before dawn, you land the Sparrow and everyone disembarks. Elena stands fingering the handles of her bolt pistols, Yasha and Adam are both muttering prayers against the darkness, and you are left to contemplate your ragged band of misfits while the Tau dropship starts its approach.
It doesn''t land, instead hovering above the ground. A large figure jumps out of the back of the dropship to the ground, is knees hardly flexing under the impact.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
The dropship''s engines switch from idle to full power, and it heads back to orbit as the figure approaches. As the dust settles out of the air, you note that this is no Tau. The descriptions you have of them paint them a blue-skinned humanoids with black eyes, three fingered hands, and hooves for feet.
It stands at least as tall as Lord Pyrus in full armor, despite being hunched forward slightly. Its head is adorned with quills instead of hair, and a beak dominates its face. It holds a long, primitive-looking firearm, adorned with blades at both muzzle and butt.
It stalks forward, stopping a dozen feet away, nodding in greeting, "Von Sebastion? Shaper Monat. You are my backup?"
You pause for a heartbeat, adjusting to the chirp-buzz accented Gothic, "We are. I was expecting..."
Monat makes a clicking sound, "more warriors? I''m the only combat-capable Facilitator available." It cocks its head left and right, scenting, "discord on the air. The Tau team went to investigate the ruins exposed in the nearby crater after they were pointed out by a mr. Pierre. They descended into the ruins, and never emerged."
Underground ruins means tight quarters, so you adjust your usual party ordering. Shrugging, you look at Monat, "you can track them? Then we''ll stay behind you. Adam and Yasha follow up, then myself, then Elena. Yasha, senses open. If there is anything Other in these ruins, we need to know about it before it starts killing."
Monat is already halfway to the center of the crater before you are finished speaking. You and your party hustle to catch up. You think you see a glint at the far edge of the crater, but it is gone before you can blink.
Chapter 57: Storm Clouds Are Thrice Cursed
You decide to not call obvious attention to the fact that you are being watched. "Monat, someone on the ridge, left of the purple shack."
Monat keeps walking, though he speeds up just a touch. "Upwind. Can''t smell them, can see metal moving. Only hard cover is the ruins."
You accelerate to keep pace, and contact the Aegis via your microbead, "Tristan to Aegis, detailed scan of area around the crater please."
Simo responds, "on it Sir."
But you are either too late, or your transmission tipped off the sniper, because she opens fire. A line of emerald fire connects the metal glint you saw to the ground just past your ear. As you begin to duck, the thunder crack of the shot reaches your ears.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Monat is already returning fire, his rifle thumping out a steady stream of blue energy as he backs steadily for the ruins.
Elena simply books it for the ruins, her bolt pistols hopelessly out-ranged by the incoming fire.
Adam hits the ground behind a small outcrop or churned earth, taking what cover he can.
Yasha opens up with her laspistol, the venerable weapon cracking out red bolts in the general direction of the sniper with no visible effect.
Another line of emerald fire appears. Yasha crumples to the ground. As you hear the shot echo, you can see the blood weeping from the exit wound in her lower back, just above her pelvis.
Chapter 58: Two Directions, Neither Good
You hit the deck and add to the suppressive fire the only way you can: activate your microbead. "Tristan to Aegis, lock on to that sniper and hammer him flat."
Simo responds crisply, "locking on target now. Danger Close."
Elena make it to the ruins and snaps out an order, "Adam! Smokescreen!"
Adam doesn''t have any smoke grenades, but he does have a flamethrower. He hauls ass over to Yasha, throws a canister on the ground, and sets it aflame. Whatever he lit, it puts up an oily black cloud of smoke.
Yasha twitches, and you can hear her weakly call for a medic.
The sniper puts a line of emerald fire through the smoke. It must be a blind shot, because it misses Adam, but not by much.
Monat has made it to the mouth of the ruins, and continues thumping out more energy rounds. You are fairly sure he isn''t hitting anything, but it looks impressive as hell.
You start crawling towards Yasha, and the dubious cover of Adam''s improvised smokescreen. "Simo, where''s my fire support?"
"Friendly craft in the air. Holding fire until I have a clear shot."
Friendly craft? What in the Warp is going on?
Elena opens fire with her bolt pistols at something deeper in the ruins. "Contact! Cultists!"If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Adam drops his flamethrower on the ground and rips open a medical kit. "Sir, get the Swallow cranked up! She needs Medevac NOW!"
Yasha twitches again, moaning in pain.
The sniper is apparently holding his fire, as no more lines of emerald fire appear.
Monat lets out a high, screeching warcray and charges into the ruins. From the panicked cries, the cultists certainly weren''t expecting that!
You decide that it is time to make a break for the Swallow, so you get up and run for it.
The Tau dropship re-appears, chasing the purple shack with a howling gale of suppressive fire.
Elena follows Monat into the ruins, covering its back.
Adam works frantically to stabilize Yasha. It is hard to tell how successful he is, but his medical kit is rapidly being emptied of material.
Yasha shudders and goes limp.
The sniper wasn''t reloading, it was relocating. A figure in black and green robes steps from the hatch of the Swallow, a long rifle in its¡¯ hands. You have just enough time to feel your eyes go wide as the figure raises the rifle and puts a line of emerald fire through your right knee.
Time slows.
You can feel the flare of pain from your right leg, feel your bones shatter like glass, you muscles torn to shreds.
The figure slings its¡¯ rifle and steps close to you. Metal hands calmly remove your belt and use it to make a tourniquet about your leg, stemming the imminent flow of blood. It looks you in the face, and you begin to flinch at the metal skull grinning back at you.
¡°Find my sister. Set her free. Or I will continue to make your mortal life hell.¡±
Kamas the Technomancer places a small metal scarab in your hip pocket.
¡°When you awaken, so will this. It will give you everything I know of her condition and location.¡±
Time resumes.
The line of emerald fire fads, its thunderclap echo deafening at this short range. Your right leg gives out, throwing you to the ground. Kamas calmly reaches out, opens a door in the middle of the air, steps through it, and vanishes.
You pass out.
Chapter 59: One Morning (Dream)
You Dream.
"Merciful God-Emperor of Mankind, what happened to..."
Slide-slip-skid-pain. You are sharing a leisurely breakfast of pancakes with Yasha. Her quarters this time. They are hot and fluffy, and you are glad that they are not the out-of-a-box premade shit. The ploin juice is fresh, the bacon crispy.
She has an old leather-bound book open on the corner of the table, detailing what looks like a dynastic tree or a dog-breeder''s bloodlines. She dances around your questions about her projects. You decide to try again with Vir.
"... stuck here until she gets..."
Jump-drift-agony-peace. Your quarters. Same Yasha, different morning. Pancakes, Grox sausage, ploin juice spiked with a touch of Whitesnake. Family trees again. Confusion abounds. Titles? Stable genetics? Explanations, simple language required.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"... 01101101 01100001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101000 01101111 01101100 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 ..."
Flex-shock-pax-sleep. Yasha''s quarters, lunch, and serious discussion. Salt grox buns, tea, and amasec for social lubrication. The topic of Yasha''s research, her titles, bloodlines, and who she may be required to breed with to create the next generation of Navigators. That she favors you over other suitors is flattering, if disconcerting.
"...going septic again! Get me another sixteen pints of..."
You awaken.
You go through the process of taking stock of your situation as your breath rasps in your dry throat. Where: Aegis'' medbay, same bed as last time. When: Dead of shipboard night, all the lights are low or off. What: shirt, underpants, pants, metal scarab necklace, and a dull ache in your right leg. Who: Yasha, on the bed next to you, rigged with medical equipment, tubes everywhere. A black-robed figure in a chair between you and her.
Chapter 60: Catching Up
"Yasha?" you manage to croak, your throat parched with thirst.
The black robed figure turns, handing you a glass of water as you sit up on your bed. "She will live, Wanderer. As will you, for the moment."
You freeze, the glass halfway to your lips. You know that sing-song voice. Slowly you take a sip of water, letting your brain catch up with reality. "Who are you, Eldar? And why are you here?"
The Eldar has turned to face you fully, and pulls back its hood to reveal a too-pale face with bleached bone hair and knife ears. "I am Ariavari, and I am here because of the damage that bitch Kamas inflicted. What do you remember last?"
You take another sip of water, "running for the Swallow. Kamas shooting me, shoving a metal scarab in my pocket, and vanishing."
Ariavari stares at you hard, and you feel ghostly fingertips stroking your head. "You remember nothing of the last three months then."
You shake your head slowly, "I had no idea that it has even been three months. I probably have a pile of paperwork and reports to catch up on."
Ariavari nods to the side table, piled high with neatly sorted dataslates. "You do Wanderer. But first, I have one question for you. What did Kamas want of you on Vrenna?"Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
You think hard, the fingertips ghosting down to massage your shoulders. "It wanted me to free its sister."
The fingertips vanish. Ariavari''s voice has gone low and hard, "elaborate."
You take another sip of water, your throat starting to feel human again, and begin your recounting. "I first encountered Kamas in the HJG-1034 system, specifically on the Gibli shipyard. I had been hired to convey a scouting party. Their objective was to figure out what had happened to the shipyard. Mine was to get them there and back out again. Unofficially, I was also investigating the chance of salvaging a mostly completed ship, While the scouting party was aboard the shipyard itself, I was aboard that ship with a working party. We had reached the bridge and activated the ship''s sensors when everything broke loose.
The sensors reported seventeen thousand ''automatons'', whatever they are, and the leader of the scouting party immediately called for the remainder of his party to extract. They got back to the ship, and we cleared the station before detonating its hydrogen reserves. Kamas put in an appearance at this point, broadcasting a transmission before teleporting out, if the warp flare was anything to go by.
"I didn''t actually see it until it stepped from the Swallow and blew my leg off. It told me to find its sister and set her free and put the scarab in my pocket. It said ''When you awaken, so will this. It will give you everything I know of her condition and location.'' before stepping through a doorway in the middle of the air and vanishing."
Ariavari hisses out a long breath, "I have an interest in the same individual as Kamas. If you give me the scarab, I will do my best to keep it away from you."
Chapter 61: The Scarab Opens
You consider Ariavari''s offer for a moment before flatly rejecting it. "No. Kamas has hurt my crew, my family, and I will not stand by and let it happen again."
Ariavari grins, "such fury for one so young. I''m willing to assist you."
You nod, "then the first step is getting the information out of this scarab. Any ideas?"
Ariavari shakes her head, "not at this moment, no. Allow me to meditate on it while you catch up on your reports?"
You grunt in agreement and reach for the dataslates. Half an hour later, and you are impressed once again by the efficiency of your crew. Elena and Adam purged the chaos cultists with the help of Monat, though it is clear that Monat did most of the killing on his own. Mu''randa managed to talk the two factions into a deal where the surviving crew would be taken off-world and, unbeknownst to the Redemptionists, end up in your employ. The Leaf carried them back to Dagda almost a month ago.
You skim and skip over the rest of the report to find the Medical work-ups for Yasha and yourself. Chief Medicae Berach''s writing is full of medical terms, and the bulk of it goes over your head, but you get the gist of it well enough. You were found unconscious due to shock with your right leg shot away at the knee. The surgery to attach an augmetic leg was initially successful, but your body rejected the first one, and your eye at the same time. Two more attempts later, the new augmetics finally took and held. Most of your time was spent in a medically-induced coma to limit surgery trauma and enforce down time so that you could recuperate.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Yasha''s report is much worse. Again, your not sure what to make of the medical jargon, but ''augmetic pelvis'' and ''reconstructed intestines'' both sound severe. The click and hiss of the life-sustaining devices still threaded into her torso stand as evidence to the damage she has yet to heal.
You are startled by a hissing sound coming from your chest. Ariavari looks over as the scarab unfurls and projects a display onto the air in front of you: an image if Kama¡¯s skeletal visage. It begins to speak
¡°You are awake, good. I should probably apologize for shooting you and your concubine, but I won¡¯t. You deserve much worse for destroying all of my creations and stealing my sister.
We had gone aboard that construct you mortals call a shipyard to retrieve a Shard of our past. She took the ship, I the heart of the station. She found it, but one of you mortals triggered a device that nearly destroyed us both. We went into hibernation, and there I rested until awoken by a sensor pulse.
She was still aboard the ship when you stole it. Find her, free her, and give me the Shard, and I will leave you alone to live out the rest of your short life.¡±
Ariavari stares at you, " ''a womb of iron'' would fit one of your human ships wouldn''t it. Well, Wanderer, can you summon this ship to you? Or do we need to go to it?"
You shake your head, "The Terra Incarnadine is a twelve cubic kilometer construction zone at the moment. We need to go to it, but the Aegis can''t traverse the Warp without a Navigator." You look at Yasha, "and she isn''t available for the foreseeable future. So I need to hire a new one."
Chapter 62: Biomancy
You turn to Ariavari, "unless you can help?"
Ariavari considers for a long, still moment. "I cannot guide your ship in her stead, but perhaps I can accelerate her healing. It is not without risks however."
You don''t even have to think about your decision. "Yasha has a connection to the Terra Incarnadine, and is flat out the best Navigator I know. Do it."
Ariavari looks you dead in the eyes, "I must ask if this is what you want done. It is not without risks, serious ones, and I can make no Oath as to its outcome."
You return her gaze, "yes."
Ariavari maintains her gaze. You can feel the power building in the air, the hairs standing up along the back of your neck. "Thrice I must ask, is this your desire?"
An old fragment from a long abandoned text of old Terran myths floats into your mind. "Thrice I say, and done. It is my desire for you to heal Yasha Saurlance to the best of your ability."Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Ariavari nods solemnly, before floating over to stand at the foot of Yasha''s bed. Runes begin to glow in the air, encircling them both.
The Scarab lifts off of your chest to float at the head of Yasha''s bead, hovering over her lips.
Ariavari''s sing-song voice fills the air with a rolling tri-part Song. At first, you think it is echoing off the bulkheads, but the sound is to clean for that. As you listen more closely, it is clear that Ariavari is somehow singing all three parts of the Song at the same time.
The scarab dissolves into a steam of shining metal before vanishing through Yasha''s lips.
The Song builds towards a crescendo. Yasha''s back arches unnaturally far as she is lifted into the air above her bed. The life support equipment is pulled free of her flesh as the back of her head touches her heels.
Yasha settles back to the bed as the Song fades. Her wounds have stopped bleeding and scared over, taking on a faintly metallic shine.
The runes fade from the air. Ariavari settles to the ground and bows to you. "I will leave you to recover for now. We will meet again aboard the Terra Incarnadine, Wanderer."
Chapter 63: XenoDakka
It has been a week since you awoke in the Medical bay of the Aegis. During that time, you have caught up on all of the paperwork, which really only required signing off on all of Zheeves'' and Mu''randa''s work. Yasha is awake as well, and the two of you have been eating ravenously and going through therapy to deal with the muscle atrophy.
You are back at full strength, but Yasha has changed. She doesn''t have nearly as much brute strength as she once did, but is incredibly fast and flexible, to a disturbing degree. You are lifting nearly twice as much weight as she is, but she has you dead to rights in sprints by the same margin over any distance.
After once such workout session, you decide to head to the firing range instead of studying some new and interesting texts, while Yasha heads to her quarters to rest and meditate.
On entering the range, you are confronted by the sight of Mu''randa firing a boxy rifle down range. After studying it for a moment, you recognize it as a Tau pulse rifle, though without the bayonets at muzzle and butt that Monat favored. You politely wait for her to finish the magazine, as is common range courtesy, before drawing her attention.
Mu''randa safes her weapon before waving you over. "I know its not Imperial tech, but I''ve always respected its hitting power."
You study the rifle, "walk me through the upsides and downsides compared to your old kit?"
Mu''randa thinks for a moment, clearly looking for points of comparison, before unlocking a pair of pistol cases. In one is her hellpistol, in the second is a Tau Pulse pistol, a boxy thing that looks like a pistol grip with the last ten centimeters of a pulse rifle attached. "The best comparison as to the upsides and downsides is probably these two here. The hellpistol holds more ammunition, and has better penetration, but has a shorter effective range, shorter maximum range, and an abysmal reload time. Tau pulse-class weapons still have enough penetration to get through all but the best carapace, and can hit twice as hard with their plasma bolts. Care to try it out?"
You nod, and Mu''randa starts to show you how the weapon works. You have been looking for a pistol to replace your Foehammer for a while now. Despite its impressive appearance and hitting power, you have to fire it with both hands and practically shove the barrel into your target''s belly to hit reliably.
For a side-by side comparison, you run two power packs back-to-back with the hellpistol. It rips clean through the steel plate targets, though you struggle to hit the ones further away, and the reload takes you almost twelve seconds due to the mechanics of releasing one power pack and seating the next one.
The Tau pulse pistol, despite your unfamiliarity with the weapon, performs admirably. The bolts leave impressive craters in the targets, and you manage to knock two of the targets clean off their mounts. The reload in particular is what most impresses you, taking only three seconds despite having to stare at you hands and go slow to get it right.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
You exchange some more small talk about the upsides and downside of the two pistols before prodding Mu''randa about the rifle again.
"The pulse rifle actually has more magazine capacity than the Hellgun, but empties it quicker at maximum rate of fire. The range discrepancy is much greater, but the hitting power, penetration power, and reload rates hold the same from pistol to rifle."
You nod slowly, "the glaring downside is that Pulse weapons are not Imperial tech, recognizably so. That''s going to draw ire in the wrong quarters. I''d like you to keep your hellpistol for formal, weapons-included, occasions."
Mu''randa considers this as she slowly secures all three weapons for transport. "You are right, of course. I''ll have your pistol delivered to your quarters. Perhaps Jace can modify them somewhat to be less instantly recognizable?"
You blink, "Wait, my pistol?"
Mu''randa shrugs, "I got a second one as an apology from the trader, to make up for the fact that he couldn''t get more ammunition for them. I''ve no use for it, but you clearly need a replacement for that shotgun-pistol. That has to be one of the most useless weapons I''ve ever seen!"
You raise one eyebrow, "It''s a situational weapon, intended for close-quarters use aboard ships. It¡¯s far less likely to punch through bulkheads or damage equipment than other slug-throwers. Any chance of securing more of these weapons, to equip the armsmen?"
Mu''randa shakes her head, "no such luck. I was lucky to get these three, and the Fire Cast certainly isn''t going to hand over hundreds of the things. Besides, as you pointed out, that would mark our armsmen out as non-Imperial forces. Which would cause them to draw the irate attention of Imperial authorities. Better to leave them with their lasguns and slug-throwers."
"Alright. I''ll be in my quarters anyway, dealing with another crop of paperwork before we head back to Dagda."
You are scarcely able to sit down before your microbead chimes with the signal that Kudo has a message from Inquisitor Ironside for you.
You know better than to ask for it to be couriered down. Vir would do it himself, due to the classification of the documents, but Kudo is blind as well as old. You leave a note on your desk in case Mu''randa stops in and head for the Astropath''s quarters to pick up your mail.
Half an hour later, you are back in your office. Mu''randa has left a pistol case on your desk, along with a reminder about the Officer''s meeting tomorrow afternoon. You store your new pulse pistol in your armory before opening the archaic letter. Moments later, you are scratching your chin. Inquisitor Ironsides wants you to pick up him and Lord Pyrus'' team from Viking to further investigate the Terra Incarnadine. As you start to weigh the upsides and downsides, you notice the short postscript:
''Wanderer, Dark Angels Space Marines are showing interest as well. - Flamebearer''
Your breath catches in your throat. This could be a complication you really didn''t need. Picking up Inquisitor Iornsides, and Lord Pyrus, is now a must. The real question is do you try to draw in more Mechanicus support, both to complete the work on the Terra Incarnadine faster and also to get in the way of the Dark Angels?
Chapter 64: Angels in the Darkness
The Warp transit back to Viking is relatively uneventful, for which you give quiet thanks. Frank slots the Aegis precisely into her designated parking orbit, and Kudo transmits the arrival message to Inquisitor Ironsides.
It''s no wonder that Olaf called for your services: the Mavos is in port, but she isn''t going anywhere anytime soon. Her sensor arrays are shot away, and she has plasma scoring all down her left flank. While such damage is hardly crippling, it is enough to strand her in port until the exterior hull plating is intact again.
What does unnerve you is the presence of the Gladius Frigate Seraph in the colors of the Dark Angels sitting in orbit near the Mavros. Clearly the Dark Angels are here early, and have no intention of letting the Inquisitor get away. Just as clearly, they are following him to the Terra Incarnadine, instead of racing ahead to reach it first.
You decide to have the Inquisitor and his team board with as little fanfare as possible, and to depart for Dagda just as quietly.
Half an hour later, Lord Pyrus arrives aboard one of the many provisions and resupply shuttles attending the Aegis. You take the time to thank him for warning you about the Dark Angels taking an interest. He looks at you with one eyebrow askance.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
"What do you mean about a warning? I didn''t append anything to the missive."
Your brow furrows. "The message had a post script that read ''Wanderer, Dark Angels Space Marines are showing interest as well. - Flamebearer.'' That wasn''t you?"
Lord Pyrus shakes his head slowly, clearly thinking hard. "Perhaps the Eldar are manipulating events again. I will watch for their interference." He tromps off down the corridor, headed for the rooms that were assigned to him last time.
Inquisitor Ironsides arrives two shuttles later, and you ask him how he wants to handle the Dark Angels. He shrugs, "I have no real preference. Giving them the slip for the moment is preferable in the short term, but this Sargent Danus is a persistent one. He will not be fooled for long."
You think on that for a moment as the servitors carry the luggage away. "have you thought to just ask him what his interest in the Terra Incarnadine is? Perhaps your aims are not at cross purposes, and you could aid each other in accomplishing them."
Olaf sighs heavily, "that would be an ideal option, but I do not think that they will agree. Old grievances not soon forgotten, I''m afraid."
"Perhaps if the missive was from Lord Pyrus, as a Salamander on secondment to the Deathwatch, instead of from yourself? Particularly in light of possible Eldar meddling." You quickly outline the discrepancy that Lord Pyrus spotted.
Olaf strokes his chin. "Rubicon might be better as the author of the missive then... Any other helpful suggestions? More information?"
Chapter 65: Tipping Your Hand
You glance up and down the corridor before answering. "I think I might know why the Eldar are sticking their nose in. Have you found anything about Kamas the Technomancer?"
Olaf frowns at the non sequitur, "nothing. Not even rumors or whispers."
"Alright, here''s what I have then. Kamas and its Sister were after something aboard Gibli, probably brought there by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Kamas went into the shipyard, the Sister into the Terra Incarnadine. Something went wrong, and they both went into stasis, along with all of Kamas'' subordinates. When Jace reactivated the Terra Incarnadine¡¯s sensors, it woke at least Kamas and her subordinates up. The Damocles strike and the resulting detonation destroyed all of Kamas'' subordinates.
"The next time I encountered Kamas again was back on Vrenna. I was investigating a disruption of the Outbound trade route when Kamas ambushed my party. Yasha went down, and I lost my right leg at the knee. Kamas left a letter of sorts on my body. When I woke up in the Aegis'' medbay, I had an Eldar sitting next to my bed. No idea how she got there, or how she had avoided detection. First thing she asks is what the heck Kamas wanted with me. I gave her the short version. She demanded the letter, I told her to get lost. She did, but not before saying that she would see me aboard the Terra Incarnadine."
Olaf nods slowly, "this may play to our advantage then. If Rubicon tells the Dark Angels that we are here chasing Kamas, they may chose to stand with us against the Xenos."
You give Olaf a lopsided grin, "I wish him luck in his endeavors then."
Several hours later...
You are on the bridge of the Aegis when the Dark Angels'' reply comes in. Rubicon decodes it and grunts in satisfaction. "They have agreed to at least coordinate investigations. No mention of anything else, but at least we won''t be shooting at each other."
You feel your eyebrows rise, "Is this usual for Dark Angels?"
Rubicon shrugs, his pauldrons whining as they try to approximate the motion. "Hostility towards the Inquisition? I can''t say. Reluctance to work with other Imperial forces, yes. I''d guess that they are looking for Chapter Relics, and will be taking any the find with them when they leave."
You shrug, "so long as the Terra Incarnadine is still mine at the end of the day, I''ve no objections then."
Rubicon''s pauldrons whine again. "Which will last until the Adeptus Mechanicus secure a claim on her. Which will happen when she docks at a shipyard for repairs."
You grin, "It''s a good thing that I''m having the repairs done ''in house'' then isn''t it?"
Rubicon chuckles, and the Aegis lines up to make her transition to the Warp, bound for Dagda.
Two Days Later¡Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
The Warp transit from Viking to Dagda is quick and quiet. Yasha''s growing proficiency pleases you on multiple levels. Personally as a demonstration of her renewed health. And professionally, as further justification of you decision to hire her, and to have Ariavari heal her.
You get you first look at the Terra Incarnadine in quite some time, and the first thought that comes to your mind is ''what the hell have you been up to Jace?'' The entire ship is surrounded in the kind of scaffolding you associate with terrestrial construction, and a steady stream of mining craft are buzzing back and forth between her and the local Asteroid belt. The superstructure itself is nearly complete, though the broadside weapons bays are empty caverns, and the prow looks like a skull missing the jaw. The spine has a large flat section, with the stump of three turret mountings growing out of it.
The Seraph thunders back into reality to your starboard side. Not even two minutes later, Sargent Danus is hailing the Aegis, asking for a parking orbit and shuttle approach vector to the Terra Incarnadine.
Rubicon looks at you and cocks his head, inviting an answer. "Tell the Sargent that they are free to use whatever parking orbit they see fit, so long as they stay out of the current shuttle traffic. Safer for everyone that way. As for a shuttle approach vector, that will depend on what parking orbit they desire, and what shuttle bays are operational aboard the Terra Incarnadine. Obviously the Mining Bay is operational, but I don''t think that makes for a good landing zone for a thunderhawk."
Five Hours Later...
Jace is waiting to greet you as you disembark from the Swallow with Yasha, Elena, Adam, and Simo following behind. Inquisitor Ironsides, Lord Pyrus, and Rubicon disembark from their black thunderhawk, and both groups turn to watch the ramp on Sargent Danus'' dark green thunderhawk lower.
Sargent Danus disembarks, a power sword and plasma pistol at his hip, his dark green power armor covered by a cream robe. Five more Space Marines follow him down the ramp. Three are armed with bolters, their armor bedecked with purity seals and honor-markings. The fourth is in white power armor, with the caduceus symbol of a medic on his pauldron. The last is armored in red, with a robotic arm mounted on his back and the cog-and-skull of the Mechanicus on his pauldron.
Jace speaks first, "Sergeant Danus? I presume that you are here to investigate the First Legion markings located in the Main Plasma Drive and aft enginseering spaces, and wish to begin immediately?"
The Sargent simply nods in acknowledgement, "I will lead you there myself momentarily." Jace bows and summons a elegant guide servitor. "Inquisitor Ironsides, Master Von Sebastion, Anai here will show you to your quarters. I will proceed on the assumption that everyone present is familiar with standard Imperial hazard signs. Please pay heed to them, as sections of the Terra Incarnadine are still under construction."
Jace leads the Dark Angels off, and everyone else follows Anai towards what you presume to be the officers quarters. As you follow along, you notice that Anai isn''t leaking oil, stumbling, or expressing one of the dozens of other quirks you expect of Imperial servitors. Indeed, Anai''s bronze plated exterior seems more humanoid than robotic.
You are the last person to find your quarters, and Anai follows you into the office, closing the door behind itself. It then simply stands by the office doorway, awaiting further instructions.
You stand and study her for a moment, wondering where Jace found such a servitor. The familiar feeling of ghostly fingertips on your shoulder causes you to turn in time to see Ariavari step through the bedroom doorway to join you in studying Anai.
"I presume you know to avoid the Dark Angels, given that you tipped me off to their interest?"
The fingertips pause. "You figured it out. Well done. Have you any idea where to start looking for the Shard?"
You shake your head. "The Sister. Perhaps she knows where the Shard might be."
Anai speaks, the rolling baritone of the Terra Incarnadine emerging from her mouth, "Enginseer Primus Echo has surveyed ninety eight point two nine seven percent of the Terra Incarnadine, and has found no non-human items."
Ariavari stares hard at Anai, and the fingertips vanish from your shoulder. "I think we found the Sister, but not her mind."
Chapter 66: Old Minds, Older Souls
You stare at Anai, your mind whirling with the possibilities. "I think we need to reunite Anai''s mind with her body. To learn all that she knows, including where the Shard is and what it does. Ariavari, can you mindsearch for it?"
Ariavari purses her lips, "for organic minds or their remains, yes. For a machine-mind and their echos, no."
You are not to be denied. " ''Or their remains''? If you mean souls, then perhaps it would be possible to parse by age? The Terra Incarnadine is old, and probably has some old ghosts, but wouldn''t an Eldar or Necron have left an imprint older still? Also, you mentioned that you had an interest in Anai, though you didn''t use that name at the time. If you had a connection way back then, could that also be a lead?¡±
Ariavari stares at you. "When did you learn some of the basics of Psychics? You are totally mind-blind!"
You shrug, "incidental to learning what I could about Eldar. Yours is an old race heavily steeped in Psychics and Psykers, so some of the mechanics come up in passing. Putting them together leaves a rather incomplete starting point, but a starting point nonetheless."
Ariavary frowns at you, "be careful what Knowledge you seek, for it comes with a price."
You stare right back, unafraid to meet her gaze. "We humans have long known that when one stares into the void, the void stares back. I sought knowledge of the Eldar and Necrons so that when Kamas make its inevitable appearance, I can hurt it far worse than it has hurt me and my crew. The key to this will be getting Kamas to walk into a trap of some sort. To do that, I need bait. So I ask again, Can you search for Anai''s mind by the age of her soul, or your connection to her from long ago?"Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Ariavari sighs. "not by the age of her ''soul'', but perhaps by our connection."
You nod, "then I''ll go and find Jace, see what he knows of the as-yet unmapped portions of the Terra Incarnadine, and figure out how to set a trap for a reality bender."
Four Hours Later¡
The Dark Angels have spread out through the Engineering spaces, searching for emperor knows what. When you ask Jace about the un-mapped portions of the ship, you get the distinct impression that he is hiding something.
"Alright Jace, we may have a stray ''machine-mind'' aboard this ship, and we need to find it. So fess up, or at least give me a reason why you cannot talk about the un-mapped areas."
Jace thinks on it for a moment, "the only areas I haven''t mapped are the center of the Plasma and Warp drives, for obvious reasons, and the main Computer Core due to unusually high levels of electromagnetic radiation. Levels that would ruin any scanning instrumentation in moments, and the operator moments later."
You sigh. "Ok, so those three areas are out of our reach for the moment. But wouldn''t lethal levels of radiation pretty much melt the computer core? I''m no Enginseer, but dataslates are usually more fragile than people in my experience. And I''d expect a Computer Core to be more fragile still."
Jace pauses dead-still. "That logic holds up. So this ''machine-mind'' is in the main Computer Core. I''ll have to work on a way to access it safely."
You shake your head, "I need you working on something else actually. Kamas the Technomancer survived the destruction of the Gilbi shipyard, and demonstrated some serious reality-warping abilities when it came after me on Vrenna. I need some way of trapping it, preferably permanently. Man-portable would be ideal, but I''ll take what you can make."
Jace un-pauses, tapping a toe on the deckplate. "A stasis field would work, but I know not how to make them. Perhaps the Inquisitor might know how, or have access to them?"
Chapter 67: Old Blood, Older Poisons
You wish Jace good luck in getting such information out of Inquisitor Olaf, and head back to check on Ariavari. On the way there, you decide to check in on Yasha. You find her door closed but not locked, and you hear her weeping from inside her bedroom.
Concerned you knock on her bedroom door to announce your presence. Yasha answers the door, tears still pouring down her face, and throws herself into your arms.
"Yasha, what happened, whats wrong?"
"E-everything is w-wrong, Tristan."
"Everything sounds a bit large. Come, have a seat. I''ll make some tea if you can tell me were the kettle is, and we''ll talk."
Yasha slowly lets go of you and drifts over to sink into an overstuffed armchair. "Chamomile, please. Kettle is on the counter, tea bags in the second drawer from the left. You know where the milk and honey is."
You set the kettle on to boil, pour two glasses of water, and return to Yasha. "Here, start with this. You talk, I''ll listen, and we''ll go from there."
Yasha drinks deeply from her glass and scrubs at her eyes. "How much do you know of N-navigators?"
You take a slow sip from your own glass. "That you guide ships through the Warp. That you need that third eye in your forehead to see clearly in that immaterial realm. And that doing so carries a terrible price for the Navigator over his or her career in the form of mutation, madness, and the risk of possession by Daemons."
Yasha takes another drink. "All t-true, and widely known to those who fly the stars. Lesser known, for we Navigators don''t talk of it, is the requirement to b-breed the n-next generation of..." She trails off in tears.
You take her water glass from her hands and hug her for a long time, letting her cry on your shoulder. "Just breathe Yasha. Long, slow breaths. I''m not going anywhere." fweeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEE "Except to pour the tea. Breathe Yasha, I''ll be in the kitchen."
Yasha chokes back a sob as you peel yourself off of her. You head to the kitchen and begin the ritual that is making tea. "Strong, with milk and honey, right?" You glance back through the open doorway. Yasha nods, still unable to speak. You put three teabags into a large cup, pour in the water, and cover to let it steep. You place it on the counter and set a small timer for ten minutes before returning to sit with Yasha.
Yasha tries to speak again. "V-vir and I, w-we''re the l-last of H-house Saurlance. Ever since my m-mother died salvaging the A-aegis, w-we have b-been the l-last. A-and now House Saurlance is dead. V-vir isn''t a N-navigator anymore, and I can''t b-bear any m-more. Not since V-vrenna..." Her voice fails.
You let out a long sigh. "I think I begin to see. Let me bring you your tea, and it will be my turn to talk, and yours to listen, ok?" Yasha nods and drains her water glass. You head for the kitchen, stopping the timer just before it rings. You uncover the cup, discard the tea bags, fill the cup the rest of the way with milk, and stir in two spoons of honey.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
You bring it to Yasha. "Here, drink this. Before you give in to despair, let''s work some things through. House Saurlance needs a new generation of Navigators, and you can''t bear any after what Kamas did. Vir can still sire heirs to the house, but Matron Saurlance will have to negotiate for them in all likelihood, now that Vir is out from under her thumb. So House Saurlance doesn''t die with you at all."
Yasha sips slowly at her tea. "I-I can''t let the Matron know about m-my condition. She''ll throw me out of the House."
You snort. "In which case Vir and Morrigan probably won''t negotiate at all, and she will have damned House Saurlance herself. Vir will leave House Saurlance, and from a new Navigator House with the backing of House Von Sebastion."
Yasha''s eyes are huge, "you can do that?"
You nod, "House Von Sebastion can. Our charter goes all the way back to the first wave of Rogue Traders from Terra in the opening days of the Great Crusade."
Yasha sips her tea and wipes her eyes again. "And what about me? A cast-out ex-Navigator? No one would keep me."
You reach over and hug her. "Have you forgotten about your skill? You are the only navigator I know of to have piloted two crippled ships back to port and have sworn an oath to the Terra Incarnadine, a ship probably older than the Imperium itself. Have you forgotten about us? I consider all of the people under my employ, especially you, to be family. I take care of my family, come hell or high water. I would keep you, damn whatever Matron Saurlance says or does."
Yasha shudders and your hair stands on end as a pulse of something courses through the ship.
"Was that...?"
Yasha nods into your shoulder, "p-psychic pulse. Something is h-happening."
"Alright, we''ll resume this talk anytime you need to Yasha. My door is always open to you. But for now, something is going wrong. Will you help me in righting it, Navigator mine?"
Yasha draws in a deep breath. "Yes, Shipmaster mine. That pulse didn''t seem human, though I have felt its like once before; when I awoke from my coma."
You nod, "then it''s probably Ariavari." At her confused look, you explain, "an Eldar with an interest in opposing Kamas. She healed you that we might get back to Dagda and the Terra Incarnadine sooner. Now she is aboard, searching for the same things that Kamas wants. We should find her, Lord Pyrus would definitely have felt that."
Not bothering with anything more than grabbing weapons, you and Yasha both head for your quarters. As you burst in, you find Anai and Ariavari standing face-to-face, with the afterglow of fading runes circling them both.
Anai''s flesh seems to flow and shift, taking on a much more lifelike appearance. Her jaw works, speaking in some language you don''t understand.
Ariavari nods, and hugs her in a furious embrace, speaking back in that same language.
You clear your throat. "I hate to break up the reunion ladies, but we may have trouble. Flamebearer is aboard, and he will have felt that. So someone is headed this way, and I get the feeling that they won''t be happy to see you."
Anai cocks her head in clear confusion, her bronze face far too mobile for a simple servitor. Araivari holds up her hand to forestall her questions. "I see. My apologies for doing this, then." She waives her hand, and you and Yasha both crumple to the ground as your vision goes black.
Chapter 68: Ancient Echos (Dream)
You Dream. Your mind drifts to a time before humanity.
You stagger across a red sand dune, damaged leg grinding from sand in the knee. Auto-repair function non-functional, memory engrams flickering. The map is worse than useless, all of the old landmarks buried beneath the shifting sands.
There! The point of the tallest obelisk! The Shard you seek was encased in its point. Memory engrams failing, name-data lost. You stagger onwards, your name forgotten.
The stones hold tight, red sand filling every crevice and chink between them. Auto-repair non-functional, motive units degrading. Your legs give out. You have reached your destination, but can not reach your goal.
A black-gloved hand closes over your brass one, lending strength to rend the stones. Memory-engrams failing, Alias: helper name lost. You heave, pulling at the stones alongside a helper you know that you should know, but cannot remember.
An iron staff jams itself into the crevice, crushing one of your fingers. Auto-repair nonfunctional, manipulator damaged. You let the useless hand fall away. Your helper pluts a second hand to the task, and the newcomer heaves.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
The stone moves, the Shard shatters. The iron staff is thrown skywards, the newcomer taken with it. You collapse to the red sands as the energy of the Shard courses through you.
Auto-repair functional: repairs initiated. Auto-repair firmware updated: form manipulation functions enabled. User privileges upgraded to administrator.
Memory engrams stabilized. Error: data corrupted. Unable to restore.
Your helper places a blood-red gem to your chest and whispers a name. "Anai." A warm current is added to the shuddering power of the shattered Shard.
Memory engram self-repair initiated. Assimilating new data-storage medium. Data present in new data-storage medium matches existing memory-engrams. Assimilating data.
Perfect recollection scorches though your mind. You remember everything now. You take Ariavari''s hand and she pulls you to your feet.
You and your lover lean on each other and head back into the khamsin, leaving your betrayer-sister Kamas to its madness.
Your mind snaps back to your own body in the present. You awaken.
You awaken with a monster of a headache. The last time your head hurt nearly this much, you had tried to drink Morrigan under the table with whitesnake. Yasha moans from somewhere to your left.
Chapter 69: Waking up to a New Reality
You lay on the cold deckplate of your room as new feelings cascade through you. Instinctively, you know that Ariavari attempted to knock you out with her psychic talents. That she attempted to do so by presenting your brain with information that it shouldn''t be able to process, reckoning that it would cause your brain to ''shut down and restart''. And that your brain processed this echo of the ancient past successfully because Ariavari''s efforts pushed you past a metaphysical line in the sand. You are fairly sure that you are not entirely human anymore.
Yasha groans, and the deckplate beneath you grows colder. It seems that she was not unaffected as well. "Yasha? Did you just Dream of events on red sand?"
Yasha puts a hand to her forehead, rubbing at her temple. "Yes. You as well?"
"Yes. Do you mind turning off the cryomancy before we freeze to the deck?"
Yasha concentrates for a moment, and the deckplate warms. You sigh in relief. "I hate to ask, but are you mobile? Because I feel... off."
Yasha flows to her feet and turns to help you before coming to a graceful halt. "I can see why. You are saturated with warp energy. How are you not a mutated ball of goo right now?"If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
"Too stubborn to die? Something to ask Ariavari later. Help me up please."
Yasha reaches down and helps you to your feet. "How did you know that I was responsible for the cryomancy?"
"I just did. Correct me if I''m wrong, but that isn''t in the usual Navigator''s arsenal of powers, and something that ''unlocked'' just now?"
"Yes and yes. Tell the Inquisitor?"
"Not yet. Lord Pyrus first, I think."
A familiar staff-wielding Space Marine looms in the doorway. "Speak of me and I shall appear, it seems. Tell me what?"
"Ariavari, the Eldar that contacted us above Vrenna to destroy that chaos shrine, is onboard the ship. She is after something aboard the ship, and was searching my quarters for it. We startled her, and she mind-blasted us. We just woke up."
Lord Pyrus stares past you, studying the warp residue saturating the room. Next he stares at you and Yasha. "Heh, not the wisest thing to do, but she clearly has plans for you two. Any idea what she was after?"
"Yes. Kamas was after a ''Shard'' aboard the Terra Incarnadine. Some old Necron artifact, if I had to guess, and Ariavari wants to prevent her from getting it. Jace has surveyed most of the ship, except the interiors of the Warp and Plasma Drives, for obvious reasons, and the Main Computer Core due to radiation. I''d guess the Shard is there, and Ariavari and Kamas will be headed that way."
"So that is where I need to go."
Chapter 70: Questions Best Left Unasked
You tell Yasha to gather her wargear while you strap your own on. You leave your pulse pistol sitting in its case and holster your foehammer instead. No need to draw attention to it before Jace looks into putting a suitably Imperial appearance on it.
You and Yasha enter the Main Plasma Drive Room in time to see the backs of Sargent Danus and his team as they exit, a large black casket humming along between two of the honor-marked Marines. You nod farewell in passing, and proceed onwards to find Jace and the Dark Angel Techmarine conversing in the squealing chitter of enginseers everywhere. You can''t make heads nor tails of it, but you get the feeling that a great deal of information is being exchanged very quickly.
You get the urge to start asking questions as to what relics Sargent Danus is taking with him. But as you think it over, you decide for once in your life to leave well enough alone. Jace will have a log of what was taken or disturbed, and asking questions where the Dark Angels can hear them is likely to draw their ire. Given that they are reluctant to work with the Inquisition, and Rubicon''s comment about them probably shooting at other Imperial forces in the past, you deduce that that ire is likely to be expressed as incoming bolter rounds.
So instead you wait for Jace and the Techmarine to notice you. "Lord Pyrus is headed for the Main Computer Core, as Kamas is likely to put in an appearance there in the near future. Any luck in rigging up a stasis trap of some sort?"If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Jace and the Techmarine both shake their heads. Jace speaks first, "I believe that I might be able to construct a stasis storage unit, but nothing deployable in the field. And doing even that would take materials that I do not possess."
"That''s a no then. Techmarine, can you or your Chapter be of any further assistance in this matter? Or do I overstep my limits in this?"
The Techmarine throws back his head, and you get the impression that he is laughing inside his helmet. "Sargent Danus would say that you are overstepping your bounds, but such an honest question deserves an honest answer. Do not expect aid from the Dark Angels on any but their own terms. They only brought me along on this expedition to oversee the stasis casket, and they did not even tell me why. Now I must depart, leaving only a wish for good fortune in your future endeavors."
You give a formal bow to the Techmarine. "Then go in honor, Techmarine. May the Emperor guide your path and your weapons."
"And yourself Master Von Sebastion. Now I must depart." The Techmarine walks off down the corridor after Sargent Danus, vanishing around a corner.
You let out a sigh. "Ok, we don''t have an available stasis trap. So how do we fight a being that can bend reality?"
Yasha cocks an eyebrow at you. "With one of our own of course. Lord Pyrus is probably up to the task..."
Jace nods. "But he is going to need backup, to keep Kamas occupied if nothing else."
Chapter 71: Payback, with Interest
You cock an eyebrow at Jace. "Where is the Main Computer Core anyway?"
"The pillar of the Statue of the Omnissiah, in the sanctuary of the cathedral."
You frown. "That wasn''t the case the first time we were here. We walked right into the cathedral, and lingered there in close proximity to the statue for quite some time."
"True. Something has changed, either when the Plasma Drive was activated and the computer core received power, or when the Terra Incarnadine made the warp transit to Dagda."
The deck shudders under your feet. Jace grabs for a console to keep his balance. Yasha drops to one knee. The hair on the back of your neck stands up and you feel a wave of immaterial energy wash over you. You look at Yasha, she nods, indicating that she felt it too. You don''t have time to plan out anything properly anymore. You tap your microbead. "Simo? Tristan here. Get Elena and Adam and head for the Cathedral. Contact imminent."
"Affirmative."
"Alright, let''s go. Showdown time."
The shuddering and pulses of energy become more frequent as you approach the cathedral. Concerned with the structural integrity of the Terra Incarnadine, you send Jace off to coordinate the inevitable damage control efforts.
You, Yasha, Elena and Adam all reach the cathedral doors, where you find Lord Pyrus and Rubicon waiting. "Where''s Simo?"
Rubicon answers, "headed for the balcony with his rifle. He should be in position in three minutes."
Another pulse, stronger than the last three, sweeps through the ship.
"I don''t think we can wait that long, the ship is being shaken apart by whatever is going on in there."
Rubicon nods. "Bolter advance, covering fire. Pyrus, breach on my mark. Expect an immediate hostile response."
You, Adam, and Yasha stack up on one side of the door, Rubicon, Lord Pyrus, and Elena on the other. You can feel Lord Pyrus gathering energy to himself, feeling out the cathedral doors for weaknesses. Serpentsbreath is cold and heavy in your hand.
Rubicon gives the countdown, three flashbang grenades held loosely in one hand. Pyrus breached the cathedral doors with a series of pinpoint telekinetic strikes, tearing the wood to pieces and throwing them into the room at staggering velocities. Rubicon scatters the flashbangs into the cathedral before the splinters even have a chance to hit the floor.
You move in, staying low and sliding behind a pew to take some concealment.
Adam storms right down the center aisle, heedless of cover, flamer in hand, and a battlecry howling from his lips.
That deadly line of emerald fire comes right back down the aisle. Adam''s head explodes into red mist and you hear Rubicon curse from the doorway. Kamas just laughs from the foot of the statue, a small section of the pillar slowly, slowly, starting to open up.
Elena responds by sending a hail of bolt rounds, suppressing Kamas as best she can.
Yasha Joins in, and actually scores a hit. Kamas'' robe flutters to the floor, the brooch that was holding it in place shot away, revealing the metallic parody of a human skeleton beneath.
Pyrus steps through the doorway, a half-dome forged from raw psychic fire floating in from of him as he moves past Adam''s headless corpse.
Rubicon appears behind him, laying down bursts of covering fire from his bolter despite having to wield it one-handed. His right arm is a ruin from the shoulder down from the same shot that killed Adam. At least one of the rounds takes Kamas in the side, and it drops to one knee.
You move to and down the left-hand aisle, staying below the line of pews and trying to not draw Kamas'' attention. That Emperor-forsaken rifle simply don''t care about having to plow through a few of them if Kamas decides to take a shot at you.
Kamas places another line of emerald fire just below Lord Pyrus'' shield, detonating Adam''s flamer as it lies between the two Space Marines. Rubicon grunts in discomfort, his aim disrupted from the smoke in his eyes and the flames licking at his wounded arm. Lord Pyrus doesn''t even flinch as the flames char the paint from his armor.
Elena breaks cover headed for the right-hand aisle, trusting in Yasha and Rubicon''s fire to keep Kamas occupied.
Yasha keeps her fire up as she follows Elena, seeming almost to stroll next to Elena''s sprint.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
The pillar opens fully, revealing a small platform. A silvery object begins to slide from a cubby hole deeper in.
Lord Pyrus drops his shield and rushes forward, his power sword crackling with killing will.
Rubicon is only a half step behind, his bolter already back in its holster and his chainsword revving into life.
You rush down the left-hand aisle, looking to flank Kamas and perhaps get a hit in while it is distracted.
Kamas rises to its feet and pulls a short shaft of metal from its back. It quickly expands into a full halberd, which she levels at the oncoming Space Marines.
Elena holds her fire and ducks behind a pew only three rows from the front of the Cathedral. With so many melee combatants close together, she dares not risk a shot.
Yasha trips over something outside your line of sight and goes tumbling behind a pew. You get the flashing impression that the fall was guided by an invisible figure, but your eyes might just be playing tricks on you with the amount of psychic energy in the air.
Lord Pyrus takes a controlled swing at Kamas'' weakened side. Kamas easily parries it, the energized blade of the power sword skipping off the haft of the halberd.
Rubicon attacks from Kamas'' other side, hacking low at her legs. Kamas simply hops back from the cut, avoiding it entirely.
You close the gap to mere feet from the combatants, and you can feel the warmth from the radiation coming from the pillar. You have to end this fight fast, before it finishes whatever process Kamas has started.
Kamas strikes the ground with the butt of her halberd, and you can see the ripple of slowed time reach through the air. Everyone else in the room freezes still, unable to move.
The pillar dings and the warmth fades from your skin. A luminous silver cylinder is sitting on the platform, the Shard that Kamas was seeking.
Your fury boils up within you. First Yasha, sent to the edge of death and beyond. Now Adam, head popped like a pimple, and Rubicon, who will need reconstructive surgery to repair the scraps of flesh and bone of his right arm. You feel the Warp energies suffusing your frame shift, breaking Kamas'' hold on the reality around you. You dash forward in the stillness, ducking around two bolt shells from Elena''s bolt pistols hovering in the air. You slam Serpentsbreath into Kamas¡¯ halberd, throwing it to the ground and stunning the Necron where it stands.
Kamas spins around to face you. "Impossible! My command of reality is absolute!"
"A good thing that I''m not entirely of this reality then." Anai sheds her camouflage from behind Kamas, and soundlessly gestures for you to keep taking, to buy time. You let your voice drip with arrogance, the better to hold Kamas'' attention. "See, you made at least two fuckups when you came after me. One, you underestimated humans. Hit a human with a stick, and they go make a bigger one to hit you back with. You demonstrated your hold on reality, so I went and found ways to break that hold."
"Inconceivable!"
"All too real. Human ships sail the Warp, Human minds can see through it and speak across it. Human will can focus those same energies to re-shape reality as we see fit. But your other mistake was even worse."
Anai steps up behind her sister and grips Kamas'' head in her hands, "you left him alive, traitor, just as you left me alive." With a tremendous yank, Anai pulls Kamas'' head from its shoulders, the stump of a spine trailing from the metal skull.
Reality shivers and stills in a heartbeat. Anai tucks Kamas'' still blathering head under one arm and holds out two brass scarabs, each no bigger than your thumbnail. "For yourself and you lover, to dampen the warp energies surrounding you. Place it somewhere on your person, and it will sink into your skin, becoming as a tattoo. Touch it and will stillness and you will be shielded."
You take the brass scarabs in a gloved hand. One you place in a pocket, the other you place at the base of your throat. It sinks in, coolness spreading across your chest. You focus your mind and feel reality seize hold of your limbs once more.
Anai nods, places Kamas'' head at lord Pyrus'' feet and turns invisible once again. "Our paths may not cross again, but I thank you for helping Ariavari break my chains."
Time resumes is normal flow. Rubicon and Lord Pyrus stare at Kama''s now headless body. Rubicon collapses in a heap, the pain of his injuries overcoming his physiology now that the fight is over. Lord Pyrus looks questioningly at you.
You know that he was able to see and hear everything that transpired during the stillness. "I''d say let sleeping dogs lie. Kamas was more than all of us could handle, and I may have been able to break his time-stop, but I was no match for him in a sword fight. I''d say that was the Sister, and she flat-out tore Kamas¡¯ head off, as well as pulling total invisibility and that slow-time trick. I certainly have no desire to anger her or Ariavari, much less the two of them combined."
Pyrus nods slowly, thinking through things.
You clear your throat, "and what of my people? How will you deal with them Lord Pyrus?"
Lord Pyrus holds up a finger and opens a communications channel. "Inquisitor? I will require three stasis traps for the artifact and the technomancer."
He looks at Elena, still in a touch of shock from what just happened. "Will you submit to a mindwipe Elena?"
Elena''s eyes roll up into her head and she collapses to the ground.
You hear a door open up on the balcony, and Simo curses aloud when he sees the scene down below.
You call up to him "Shows over Simo, sorry you missed it. Best if you go see if Jace needs any help."
Simo heads back out of the balcony, and you return to Lord Pyrus question. "It seems I must make the decision for Elena. What are her options, and what are the potential costs?"
Lord Pyrus studies her prone figure. "One, she could submit to a mindwipe. She would forget this event and any details surrounding it, if it is successful, and would rejoin your crew. If if fails, her mind could be wiped completely, and I would place her in your care to be re-trained for her current duties, or she might not survive at all. Two, she could enter the service of Inquisitor Olaf. For certain, she cannot remain as she is, she has seen too much. You and Yasha are more useful in your current state, so long as you do not stray from service to the Empire."
Chapter 72: Cleaning Up
You let out a long sigh, and head over to check on Yasha, as Lord Pyrus kneels down to check on Rubicon. "I think she will have to decide for herself, once she awakens. I would like to be there, to explain her choices to her."
"Fair enough. Can you escort her to the medical bay aboard the Aegis? The Terra Incarnadine¡¯s is swamped with injured crew from those pulses."
You check Yasha''s pulse, and gently shake her awake. She has a small lump on her head, probably from where Anai knocked her out. "Yes. Will Rubicon also need help?"
"Yes, but I can handle that and guard the artifact at the same time."
"Interesting that the Sister didn''t take it. Perhaps it is unstable?"
"I''m proceeding under that assumption. Take care of your crew, Tristan."
Ten Hours Later...
Elena finally sirs in her bed in the Aegis'' medical ward. Alerted by the nurse, you and Inquisitor Olaf enter and sit in chairs near the foot of her bed. Elena''s first questions, "where am I? what happened?" are predictable, as are the answers.
You ask her if she remembers anything from the previous day, and she breaks down when she comes to Adam''s head disintegrating.
Olaf leans forward. "I hate to play the heavy here. What you remember, from just before you passed out in the cathedral, is information that the Inquisition cannot afford becoming general knowledge. Master Von Sebastion and Lady Saurlance already knew it, because they work for me, however indirectly. Had Adam survived, I would have conscripted him to serve me more directly, as he possessed useful skills and attributes.
"You don''t. Not anything that I can''t find elsewhere. But you have survived contact with foes that should have left you dead. So you have my interest. And this give you a choice."The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Elena''s face is drawn in a combination of shock and fear. "What choice?"
You lean forward. "What Inquisitor Ironsides is getting at is that he can''t let his secrets spread. So either you can serve him directly in his retinue, or he can have you mindwiped, causing you to forget everything that happened yesterday. Lord Pyrus asked me to decide, but I opted to let the decision be yours. Until you make up your mind, you are stuck here for ''observation'', though you can talk to Inquisitor Olaf, myself, Yasha, and Lord Pyrus about whatever you need to."
Elena nods somberly. "I think I need to sleep. I''ll talk with Lord Pyrus in the morning, and ask him what the mindwipe entails, and with you, Inquisitor Olaf, about what my duties would be if I were to serve you directly. I''ll not rush into this blindly."
You lean back. "A wise decision."
Three days later...
The Aegis docks alongside the Mavros in orbit over Viking, and Inquisitor Olaf''s party, now bolstered by a still-shaken Elena MacWater, prepare to transfer back over. You aren''t sure what ultimately made up her mind, but you get the feeling that it was in part the desire to work for a ''crime boss'' instead of having to run and hide from one again. And the Inquisition is the biggest one on the block. At least Olaf will treat her well, and her mind will remain her own.
You wish them all well, and shake hands with Rubicon, still getting used to his new augmetic arm courtesy of Jace and Lord Pyrus. A strange sensation, to shake the hand of so lethal a post-human. The careful moderation of strength in their grip is something you will never forget.
You sigh, for dull but important paperwork and decision making lie ahead. You will soon have two ships under your command. The Terra Incarnadine is the obvious flagship, but she is unarmed at the moment, so the Aegis must play nursemaid. Rectifying this situation is the next step, but the question remains of who to put in command of the Aegis when you transfer your flag. You will be keeping your existing bridge crew, as they have proved valuable and trustworthy up to now.
You rub the back of your neck as you sit at your desk in your quarters. It''s time to delegate some authority to a trusted underling. Rather than worry about every position and title, you decide to appoint one trustworthy shipmaster, and allow him or her to fill out the officers as they see fit.
Your dataslate dings with an incoming file transfer, and you raise an eyebrow. It seems Zheeves has sniffed out a potential opportunity or two, but you will have to decide quickly. You check the file: two dossiers for Imperial Guard veteran regiments mustering out for retirement. Some of them will want to return to civilian life, but some will want a job that they are more familiar with, and the position of armsmen and perhaps Bosun will be just about right. You decide to pursue both, one for the Aegis and one for the Terra Incarnadine.
Chapter 73: Starforged
You fill out the requisite paperwork authorizing Zheeves to recruit from the Davin 22nd to fill out the armsmen core of the Terra Incarnadine, figuring that the frontiersmen will know how to deal with the Dagdan clan-crew without too much bloodshed.
You duplicate the paperwork, amended as needed of course, for the Boros Prime 349th and the Aegis. You expect a fair amount of inevitable conflict between the ''voidbrains'', the largely ex-navy crew, and the ''gropos'', the ex-guard armsmen, but it''s nothing that Zheeves hasn''t dealt with before.
With the Terra Incarnadine shaping up to be the Flagship of your fleet, outfitted and crewed to push back the darkness of the unknown areas beyond the Imperium''s borders, the Aegis needs a new role and Shipmaster.
You think over it for a while. For the immediate future, the Aegis will have to stay close to the Terra Incarnadine, acting as an escort, until the Terra Incarnadine is armed. After that, you intend to use her as a roving escort and troubleshooter, dealing with the endless little things that crop up when dealing with a multi-system trade network.
Accordingly, you will need a shipmaster that can act independently, look after themselves, and has enough authority within House Von Sebastion to move the levers of power as needed. He would also need to be absolutely trustworthy, which goes without saying when you consider all of the unsupervised access and command authority that would accompany the position.
Both Zheeves and Mu''randa fit the bill, but you trust Zheeves to look after himself and not trip over the many levels of social and political interactions inherent in Imperial Society just that tiny bit more. So your third batch of forms, and your fifth and sixth hours at your desk, are spent giving him the command, and the authorities that go with it. The formal dinner, and all of its pomp and ceremony, can come later.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
You file all of that paperwork, and pull out the next set: purposed weapons configurations for the Terra Incarnadine. Recognizing Jace''s meticulous formatting and dry prose, you decide to make a pot of high-caffeine tea before continuing.
You finish your third cup of tea, and contemplate hitting the bathroom, again, as you work to mentally digest the bulk of Jace''s purposed designs. You decide to split it down by the kind of mountings for convenience; dorsal turret, prow spinal mount, and broadsides.
The prow spinal mount is going to be a version of the Damocles system the Aegis mounts, just purely from an economic and ammunition standpoint. A Nova Cannon shell takes the majority of a Forge World''s yearly explosives output to make. The Terra Incarnadine could make such a shell, but it would take the better part of three years to make one such round. The Damocles rounds are comparatively simple fin-stabilized discarding-sabot dense lumps of pointed metal, and the Terra Incarnadine can crank one out in an afternoon. And that doesn''t even take into consideration the simplification in ammunition storage. You don''t even want to contemplate how deadly an internal chain-detonation of twenty Nova Cannon shells would be to the Terra Incarnadine. Fifty inert Damocles slugs are fairly hazard free by comparison.
The dorsal turret is going to be an energy mount. The only question is between a two-barreled Godsbane Lance Battery or a three-barreled Stygies Bombardment Cannon. The Stygies would be comparatively short-ranged, only reaching out to 4 VUs effective range, with a maximum of 8 VUs, and would hit like the Emperor''s own fury. The Godsbane, on the other hand, would have an effective range of 12VUs, and a maximum range of 24 VUs, greater than the Aegis'' heavily upgraded Sunsears can reach now. They wouldn''t hit quite as hard and would draw more power, but they could start hitting much sooner.
You decide to use the restroom and then decide on a dorsal mount, as its power requirements may rule out some of the broadside mount configurations.
Chapter 74: Forgesong
Returning from the bathroom, you decide on the Godsbane Lance Battery. Simo is already a crack shot, so why not give him the longest range weapon you can? This does rule out the Hammer configuration for the broadsides, though you did notice an appendix reference at the end of the summary.
With a shrug, you sit back down and start reading through the summary of the options for the Terra Incarnadine''s broadside weapons bays.
Configuration Option 1: Carrier turns the Terra Incarnadine into a supercarrier, pure and simple, mounting six Jovian-pattern launch bays. This would use a reasonable amount of space, and almost no power, but would leave the Terra Incarnadine horribly vulnerable in close combat. She would also be forced to flee combat should her strike craft ever be depleted, as the single Godsbane Turret wouldn''t be able to destroy hostile ships quickly enough to prevent them from closing the distance. It does, however, leave an immense amount of space and power for further supplemental components.
Configuration Option 2: Hammer forgoes the landing bays for the heaviest long-range broadsides the Terra Incarnadine can mount. The initial configuration is impossible to power with the Godsbane Battery in the dorsal mount, but the noted appendix covers exactly this situation, at the cost of some firepower. Mounting two more Godsbane and four Sunsear Broadsides, as well as two Auxiliary Plasma Banks to power everything (including the dorsal Godsbane), the Hammer configuration provides an immense amount of direct firepower at immense range, but leaves almost no room or power for other supplemental components.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Configuration Option 3: Dominion strikes a balance between Carrier and Hammer. Mounting two Hecutor Plasma Broadsides, two Sunsear Broadsides, and two Jovian Launch Bays, the Dominion configuration can handle itself in nearly any situation. One notable downside is that the Dominion configuration doesn''t leave much power available, but a reasonable volume of space, for supplemental components. An Auxiliary Plasma Bank can help to alleviate this situation however.
You lean back in your chair, now halfway through your fourth cup of tea. All three options have upsides and downsides, but Jace needs a decision made sooner rather than later so that he can finish the fundamental weapons mountings. Mounting the guns themselves will take further efforts, as the Terra Incarnadine is incapable of producing the volume of complex critical components in a reasonable time-frame. Give Jace two or three hundred years to work with, and he can do it. In your lifetime? not so much.
You shake your head, trying to chase the cobwebs away. You need to decide on a configuration so Jace can build the appropriate mounts, then figure out where you can buy or salvage the guns themselves.
Chapter 75: Finishing Touches
Deciding that an all-rounder design would work best, you settle on the Dominion configuration for the Terra Incarnadine¡¯s broadside weapons mounts. Eyeing your fifth cup of tea and the small hill of appendices detailing all of the possible additional components. You dig in, aiming to at least have some idea of what you need to know.
Half an hour later, your fifth cup of tea long gone, you decide to not try and ''blind pick'' the last few components of the Terra Incarnadine. Instead You set up a conference with Jace the following morning and head to bed.
Your morning meeting goes well, and Jace helps you to understand the rudiments of starship design. You know he is simplifying things down by several levels, and presenting you with options and descriptions of components and systems as units instead of the tens of thousand of intricate details that are normally involved.
Together, the two of you hash out a final list of components to be included, managing to squeeze in an Auxiliary Plasma Bank for some extra power, Auxiliary Retro-Thrusters for a more responsive helm, an Arboretum for both beauty and a much larger source of fresh food aboard ship, a Compartmentalized Cargo Hold for the transport of bulk goods, a Melodium to fill the halls of the ship with uplifting music (along with the provision to have the officer''s quarters on independent sound systems), and a set of Pilot Quarters, to minimize the inevitable disagreements between the hotshot fighter-jocks and the rest of the crew. To speed up some of the construction process, Jace asks your permission to go ahead and strip the Damocles prototype out of the Aegis so that he can re-use the components.
"Why? It worked fine against Gibli."
"Yes and no. Yes, it functioned properly. No, it will not continue to do so. The prototype aboard the Aegis uses up much of her cargo holds, and requires every scrap of spare power, and a few that aren''t exactly spare, to fire even one shot. On top of that, the mounting is so awkward that the Aegis will suffer structural damage from repeated firings, and the prototype itself needs to be loaded from the muzzle, from outside the ship. Stripping it out will give the Aegis her cargo holds back, and allow me to complete the Damocles Mark 2 aboard the Terra Incarnadine inside of a year."If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Alright, that works for me. The next question is where we get all of these components. I know the Terra Incarnadine has a Microforge, but I don''t expect it can make all of the needed parts."
"It could, eventually. Time to completion would be several hundred years, assuming an uninterrupted supply of material and laborers, and no outside interference. "
"In other words, not exactly practical. Aside from the Damocles, what would be complete inside of a year? Would the Terra Incarnadine be warp-ready enough to transit to a shipyard or another work site to salvage the needed components?"
"Inside a year? The Damocles, the basic weapons fittings, the Jovian Launch Bays, and the supplementary components we discussed this morning. The resulting hull would be Warp-ready, though all but unarmed. The Aegis would be required as an escort."
"Alright. In a year, give or take, the Terra Incarnadine will be warp-ready. The question at that point will be where to get the Sunsear Broadsides and the Hecutor Plasma Broadsides. Not exactly things you can just buy at the local forgeworld without selling the ship they were to be mounted on. I learned that getting the Aegis outfitted. Any other ideas?"
"Two actually. One, we could salvage the needed parts, either from the edge of the Kainia Maw or from a transitory space hulk. Two, we could strike a deal with the Tau for the use of their shipyard in Nil''kvee system again."
You scratch your chin, "Or Three, we could see of Inquisitor Olaf could divert some help our way. We''d probably end up owing him a few favors, to be repaid via services to be rendered. Any preferences?"
"All three sound workable."
Chapter 76: Coming Home
You ponder it for a long moment. Bartering with the Tau you shove to the back of your brain immediately. Any deal you would make would be horribly in their favor, and that just rubs you the wrong way. Not to mention the risk of them discovering Mu''randa''s defection.
Likewise, another arrangement with Olaf feels risky. It feels like every time you have worked with him has resulted in you getting into a fight that was way above your paygrade. No way you are blindly signing up for more missions in the future for him or Lord Pyrus, much as you respect (and fear) them.
That leaves... "I think we can plan on salvaging the needed components. Tentatively plan for doing so from around the Kania Maw, unless a better opportunity comes up."
"Sounds good, Sir. I''ll get back to work then."
"Alright. Let me know if you need anything, or if things are going wrong."
"Can do."
Six Months Later¡
As Jace starts getting more and more of the core components online, more and more of the Terra Incarnadine''s personality starts coming to the fore. Despite being pulled together from three or more ships, She is a grand old ship, tough as nails. But echoes of wherever her components were salvaged form still linger. If something goes wrong, it tends to be a tad more spectacular that you are used to from the Aegis. Fluid pumps don''t just leak, the tend to blow a gasket and spray everywhere. Preventive maintenance turns up a few more components that need work. The rats in the bilges are just that little bit larger and smarter than elsewhere.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Her main and maneuvering thrusters are an older pattern. They aren''t as well-armored as modern designs, but they are much more responsive to the helm. To the point where the Terra Incarnadine, assisting in training maneuvers with a passing anti-piracy squadron, actually managed to keep up with and out turn the Light Cruisers of the squadron. The Commodore of the squadron was frankly astonished that such a large ship could keep up.
Zheeves has struck a goldmine with the Guard regiments that were mustering out. The veterans from the Boros Prime 394th has a bit of a stick up its collective ass, but that works well considering that they will be a part of the face that House Von Sebastion presents to the Imperium as part and parcel of its troubleshooting team. The Davin 22nd frontiersmen are a somewhat Pious lot, but remarkably tolerant of aliens if a few discreet inquiries are anything to go by. They will serve aboard the Terra Incarnadine well, and have already hammered out a good working relationship with the Dagdan crewmen.
In planetside news from Dagda, Morrigan is expecting her firstborn with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. Anticipation for the continuation of her family and clan. Trepidation that something of her or Vir''s past or abilities may show in the child. You still haven''t given the second Brass Scarab to Yasha, unsure how it would interact with her Navigator Abilities. You are considering giving it to Morrigan instead, to help alleviate her fears, though you would have to explain where you got it, and how you know it works.
Chapter 77: Setting Sail
You are somewhat familiar with how the Brass Scarab at the base of your throat affects your not entirely of this world body, but don''t know how it would affect Yasha. So you decide to just ask her. After all, she should know what she is doing and how she does it considering that she has performed so well for so long.
On your way down to her quarters, you pass by Dasidas Mabis, formerly the Command Sergeant Major of the Davin 22nd, now your new Master at Arms for the Terra Incarnadine. He is leading the morning run for the new senior officers in full gear and pack. You step to one side of the corridor and he stops the run and salutes. You exchange brief pleasantries before allowing him to carry on. As his ''squad'' heads off down the corridor, you catch a fragment of a sentience "You thought I was one step short of the Emperor? Well listen up then..."
You shake your head and continue on your way. He has been drinking with the Dagda Security Detail again, and they (and Morrigan) always have a few stories to tell. You are immensely satisfied with his performance so far. where Morrigan was limited by her own fears, and Elena by her limited command experience, Mabis has been there, done that, seen the worst a world can throw at him, and can still crack a joke about it. By the time the Terra Incarnadine is ready to head out, you will have the better part of a regiment at your disposal.
You arrive at Yasha''s quarters to find her making yet another family genetic tree. "Still trying to find another person to carry on the house?"
"Yes. Hand me that grimoire on the works of Gregor? I think I may have found another branch of cousins, now I have to figure out if any of them could lay claim to House Saurlance."
"You do remember that Morrigan is about six months pregnant?"
"She is? How wonderful!"
"Setting aside the fact that the child could possibly inherit the Saurlance Legacy, Morrigan is worried about, well, psychics."
"Oh, she needn''t worry about that! If the child has the third eye at birth, it won''t be active for quite a while, plenty of time to train in its use. If it doesn''t, then it doesn''t, and there won''t be any problems."
You shake your head, "I think your missing something Yasha. You and Vir grew up as and amongst a community of sanctioned Navigators. Psychic powers were a part of your everyday life. Morrigan didn''t. She''s served on enough ships to not fear sanctioned psykers, but she is afraid of unsanctioned psychic power and the mutations that come with it."
"Ah, I begin to see. I should talk to her about these things then?"
"Talk to Vir first, Morrigan may have gone to cry on his shoulder at some point." You know damn well she has, but don''t want to break Morrigan''s confidence in you. "On the other hand, you''ve noticed the scarab tattoo at the base of my throat?"
"How could I miss it? And what does this have to do with Morrigan?"Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
You decide to tell a mostly-true truth. "It was a gift from Ariavari." You pull out the Brass Scarab in a handkerchief, careful to not let it touch your bare hand. "And she gave me two. When placed against bare skin, it will sink in. Touch the resulting tattoo and ''will stillness'' at or into it, and it suppresses psychic energy in the implanted body. I think she intended for each of us to have one for some reason, but I''m not familiar with everything about it, so I thought I''d ask you. First if you could help me discover more about its function, and second if you wanted this one before I gave it to Morrigan."
Yasha takes the handkerchief and Brass Scarab carefully. "I''d wondered how you dissipated the warp energy suffusing your body so quickly that day. The first and foremost question I have is whether it has an ''off'' switch. Without one, it''s of no use to me as it would block or suppress my ability to Navigate. Have you any ideas?"
"None, but I haven''t thought about it too much."
"I have an idea: will not-stillness into the scarab. But it would be best to try it later, away from Kudo and the eyes of the Inquisition. Next time it is just the two of us, alone, we can try it. As for this one, I''ll give it to Morrigan. I''ll also talk to her and Vir about the Saurlance succession issues."
"That sounds like a good idea. Just, be careful ok?"
"I will."
A day later, Morrigan sends you a brief text-only communication, thanking you for sending the Brass Scarab her way.
Three Months Later...
Morrigan''s firstborn is a healthy girl named Ethna Nic Vir Dannan, with the Navigator''s eye in the middle of her forehead.
Within the week, several terse messages have flown back and forth between Matron Saurlance and Vir. After the first three messages, Yasha got involved as well. With the Terra Incarnadine still in dock, and the Aegis needing a new navigator, you decide to dispatch Zheeves to ferry Vir back to Viking to open negotiations, with Yasha to Navigate for them.
One Month Later...
House Saurlance is no more. The former Matron Saurlance would not negotiate in a reasonable manner and attempted to take Vir hostage, probably to use him as a breeder.
Zheeves responded by terminating all contacts between House Von Sebastion and House Saurlance, and blacklisting the Matron with the shipping guilds.
When the Matron tried to get Imperial Law Enforcement involved, accusing Zheeves of kidnapping Vir and Yasha., Zheeves was already two steps ahead of her.
He had triggered the clauses in the on Von Sebastion Charter needed to create a Navigator House, with Vir as its head and Yasha as its principle Navigator, already on contract to House Von Sebastion.
Vir named the new house as House Dannan.
Zheeves then sic''ed the Imperial Tax Collectors on the Matron over some discrepancies he had learned of, as well as Imperial Law Enforcement over filing false charges.
Yasha, Vir, and Zheeves came back to Dagda laughing in their drinks at the Matrons sudden and permanent downturn in fortunes.
This does leave the Aegis without a Navigator, but the final decisions about that ship are now up the Zheeves.
Two Months Later¡
The day is approaching for the Terra Incarnadine to take to the stars once more. Jace is closing up the last work areas. Zheeves has a new Navigator for the Aegis. Both ships are fully crewed and ready.
Mu''randa has come through with a promising lead on an old ship graveyard to galactic north of Viking. if the rumors are true, you might be able to outfit the Terra Incarnadine with some good quality weapons, and perhaps cue up a semi-permanent, highly profitable salvaging operation. If the rumors are false, you could end up with wasted time and needless risk.
Chapter 78: In the Land of the Dead
You swap some memos back and forth with Mu''randa, establishing where her ship graveyard is. It turns out to be in an uninhabited system just north of Kania rejoicing in the cartographic designation of NGC-2051.
Being located so close to Kania means that there won''t be much lost time if the ship graveyard turns out to be a bust. Mu''randa and Zheeves both setup token cargoes to the Kania system, both to potentially open a new trade route and to at least cover the costs of making the transit to that area.
Six days later, the Aegis and the Terra Incarnadine are sitting in orbit over Kania unloading their cargoes. The appearance of the Terra Incarnadine in-system caused some consternation among the local system defense forces. Even now, they are paying special attention to her. You get the feeling that the local governor would love to find some reason to seize her.
Two days after that, the cargoes are unloaded and your little squadron is headed for the location of Mu''randa''s ship graveyard without any major incidents. There were the usual round of shore-side incidents between sailors on leave and the locals, inevitable when your combined ships companies total up to 53,000 people, but nothing serious.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Mu''randa''s Ship Graveyard turns out to be both very real, and (possibly) very rich.
Hundreds of hulls, everything from strike craft and corvettes to cruisers of all types, even what looks like a pair of battlecruisers deeper in, make up a floating asteroid ring around a smallish moon. Both the Aegis and the Terra Incarnadine begin sensor sweeps, looking for the parts Jace needs to complete the Terra Incarnadine, as well as anything else that might be useful.
Jace is practically giddy with all of the possibilities and all of the possible salvage. Between the stray strike craft and the damaged hangers throughout the debris field, there are enough small craft to fill out the Terra Incarnadine''s hangers. There are enough lance and macrobattery components to finish her guns. There is even the possibility of archeotech, given the number and age of hulls in the area. That alone would make for a huge profit, so long as the source lasts.
Then Jace gets a good look at the ''smallish moon.'' "That''s no moon, that''s a Space Hulk!"
Chapter 79: An Embarrassment of Riches
A small wave of distress sweeps through the bridge of the Terra Incarnadine at Jace''s pronouncement.
You draw a deep breath and start issuing orders before anyone has a chance to panic. "Mu''randa, message to the Aegis. My compliments to Zheeves, and he is to survey the inner system. We''ll leave the Space Hulk alone until we can bring more serious firepower to bear. Inform him that Astropath Tamefusa will be contacting Lord Pyrus and his associates. If he comes across any hostiles, he is to use his best judgement, but to let the Terra Incarnadine know if we have to leave in a hurry.
"Second message to Kudo. Politely ask him to contact Mr. Ironsides and / or Lord Pyrus and inform them of our initial findings here. Include a notation that more information will follow as we compile it.
"Frank, Place the Terra Incarnadine so that she can head for the exit if any unfriendlies show up, but close enough to the graveyard for Jace to work.
"Simo, Set our Fighters up for Combat Air Patrol for Jace''s mining and salvage craft, at least until we confirm no hostiles in the shipyard. Hold the Bombers in reserve for now, no reason to risk more craft then we have to in this mess.
"Jace, get me a systematic survey of this lot. I want to know if any of these hulks are salvageable, which ones are worth looting, and which ones we''re going to mark for Lord Pyrus to investigate for himself. Once you have that, first priority is completing the Terra Incarnadine.
"All right people. We have the time to do this right, so let''s do so. Take your time and come home safe."
Your crews swing into action. Zheeves pings you with an acknowledgement, and heads off to the inner system. You stand down from combat stations to an active watch schedule, to give your crew time to eat and sleep properly.
Thirteen Hours Later¡
You get a message form Zheeves in the inner system. "Sir, I regret to inform you that the innermost regions of this system are rife with peril: Solar Flares, Radiation bursts, and most dangerously Gavitic Riptides, are all present. The inner, warmer, sections of the biosphere are rife with asteroids. Two complete belts and three larger clusters mark the graves of planets and moons.
"However, there is a single surviving planet, and its four moons, in the outer edges of the biosphere. It is currently designated NGC-2051 1, and its moons NGC-2051 1-1 through 1-4, as is standard cartographic practice. NGC-2051 1 is capable of supporting life, although it has no large-scale lifeforms at the moment. It is a vast, cold world, with a few scattered plateaus and mountains jutting up from the depth of its oceans. The atmosphere is about the same as on Dagda: that is to say of average atmospheric pressure and untainted by chemical impurities. It should be possible to base a colony here, as an anchor to salvaging and mining operations in the system.
"As to the moons themselves, 1-1 and 1-2 are small lumps of rock, with no atmosphere and no gravity worth mentioning. 1-3 is small, but dense enough to generate a normal gravity field. The total lack of any water source renders it uninhabitable, however. 1-4 Is nothing but a moon-sized lump of ice, without any atmosphere worth mentioning. Zheeves clear."
You lean back in you command chair. A habitable world, and one with a good atmosphere and no hostile flora or fauna to worry about! Mining the asteroid fields in the inner half of the biosphere alone would provide a sizable income, but the ship salvage here in the outer reaches will add to that quite nicely. You promptly start considering possibilities for colonist sources, supplies, and all of the other dozen and three things you will need to arrange, buy, or transport for such an endeavor to be successful.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Your thoughts are interrupted by Jace, bringing you the short form of the recognizable hulks in the system, sorted into Possibly Salvageable, Worth Boarding / Investigating, and Floating Scrap, and further sorted by origin and approximate firepower. You thank Jace, who returns to directing the salvage of the bits needed to complete the Terra Incarnadine, and look at the first list: Possibly Salvageable Ships. The list begins with Ships of Imperial origin, and you are surprised by the presence of some names on the list.
> The Scutum, A Dauntless-class light cruiser.
> The Vyper, a Sword-class destroyer.
> The Buckler, a Sword-class destroyer.
> The Spatha, a Sword-class destroyer.
> Two unknown Falchion-class frigates.
> Two unknown Firestorm-class frigates.
> Two Loki-class q-ships.
> The Wanderer, a Vagabond-class merchant trader.
> An Orion star clipper.
The Non-imperial list isn''t very long, but you are quite leery of salvaging any of the ships, given their chaos-tainted providence.
> A Hellbringer light cruiser
> An Iconoclast-class destroyer
> An Infidel-class raider
> A Soulcage-class slaveship
The Xenos list is a single entry long, but it''s an impressive one:
> A Kroot Warsphere
A semi-mobile warp-capable battlestation. Unfortunately, it''s Xenos origins make it instantly Persona Non Grata inside of Imperial space. And while it may be the size of a battlestation, it doesn''t mount a tenth of the firepower of one.
The lists of Boardable and Floating Scrap Ship Hulks are longer. You go to the Boardable Imperial Ship Hulks list first, as this is where Jace will be pulling the Terra Incarnadine''s components from.
> A Lunar-class cruiser, a Dauntless Light cruiser, a Defiant Light cruiser, an Endeavor light cruiser, a Lathe monitor-cruiser, a Tempest strike-frigate, three Sword-class destroyers, three Wolfpack raiders, a Hazeroth privateer, two Loki q-ships, a Goliath-class factory-ship, and an Orion star clipper.
You glance over the list of Chaos-tainted Bordable hulks, already flagging them as to be avoided.
> A Retaliator grand cruiser, Devastation-class cruiser, Slaughter-class cruiser, Carnage-class cruiser, Hellbringer light cruiser, four Pestilaan light cruisers, and five Soulcages.
Likewise, you flag the Xenos Bordables for Inquisitor Ironsides and / or Lord Pyrus to handle, though you do drool at the thought of possible knowledge to be learned aboard them.
> A Kroot Warsphere, an Ork Terror Ship, an Eldar Hellbore, a Stryxis Xebec, a Rak''Gol mauler, and an Ork Brute-class Ram Ship.
You repeat the process with the list of Floating Scrap Ship Hulks, starting once again with the Imperial ships.
> Three Lunar-class cruisers, two Dauntless light cruisers, a Secutor monitor-cruiser, two Tempest strike-frigates, two Sword-class destroyers, three Firestorm frigates, a Falchion-class frigate, a Wolfpack raider, two Loki Q-ships, a Goliath-class factory-ship, two Jericho Pilgrim Ships, two Vagabond merchant traders, and an Orion star clipper.
Chaos-tainted Scrap-hulks, avoid if at all possible:
> Two Hades-class heavy cruisers, two Carnage-class cruisers, a Slaughter-class cruiser, a Devastation-class cruiser, two Hellbringer light cruisers, three Pestilaan light cruisers, an Iconoclast destroyer, and four Soulcages.
Xenos scrap-hulks, for Ordo Xenos to investigate:
> Two Kroot Warshperes, an Eldar Eclipse-class cruiser, an Ork Kill Kroozer, two Eldar Hellbores, two Stryxis Xebecs, a Dark Eldar Corsair, and three Ork Savage gunships.
You notice a two-line entry at the end of the document, and your eyebrow rises slightly:
Estimated mass of Archeotech Salvage (total): 5,335 T
Estimated mass of Xenotech Salvage (total): 2,344 T
You set the data-slate aside and return to thinking about the colonization efforts.
Chapter 80: Forging Onwards
You consider trying to recruit more colonists from Dagda, but the governor was somewhat grumpy when you collected almost 50,000 volunteers from his people. Given the size of the eventual colony, you would be gathering no fewer than 500,000 people over the next three to five years. With Dagda''s population stagnant at around five million people, being a deathworld and all, before you had a trade outpost set up, you figure he would scream bloody murder at you trying to hire a tenth of his total population.
Viking might be a viable source of warm bodies, given its more developed status, but you still need a partner to help set up and run all of the planet-side infrastructure that you are less than familiar with. Likewise, the salvaging and asteroid-mining operations are a little outside your usual skillset, and you don''t feel like tethering Jace to the world indefinitely.
You decide to open negotiations with the Imperial Navy, in particular their procurement offices on Viking. They will probably claim quite a few of the Imperial Hulks, but you can''t man the bulk of them anyway. And with Jace putting the ones you do get to keep back together, you figure to have a small but elite fleet. You set the dataslate aside and give Jace the go-ahead to begin pulling components to complete the Terra Incarnadine, but he wavers for a moment.
"I know that look Jace. What''s up?"
"Well, We can get the components we need from hulks of purely Imperial origin, but some of the chaos hulks are considerably older, and are of considerably better construction. It would take some extra time, and a few extra blessings, but..."
"You can go ahead, If and only if you take Yasha and a platoon or two of armsmen with you. She can help you tell which bits are actively possessed, and the armsmen will help keep the rats off your back if something does pop up."The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"Kudo would be better, why not him?"
"Availability. He is going to be busy sending and receiving astrotelepathic messages."
Three Days Later¡
You, Zheeves, and Mu''randa are sitting around a conference table discussing the possibility of a colony in the system. Zheeves and Mu''randa will be the ones drawing up the actual contracts, and putting in all of the proper lawyer-speak bits, but you want to keep a finger on the pulse of things.
Mu''randa finally throws up her hands after tripping over the system name for the umpteenth time. "Can''t we think of a better name? After all, we are colonizing the place, we should get to name it."
Zheeves shrugs, "I can set the paperwork in motion to do so. Any ideas on a name boss?"
"I''m thinking Riptide for the system, given the state of the Inner Cauldron, and Oasis for the world. I''m striking out on the moons though."
Mu''randa frowns for a moment. "If I''m getting my High Gothic right, how about Sororita for the third moon, and Helia for the fourth?"
"That works for me. Zheeves, your call on the inner two moons."
"Pancake and Waffle?"
You and Mu''randa both about fall out of your chairs laughing at the shear incongruity of the names. It''s better than the world that got named ''SodAllAgain'' by a bored Explorator with a broken keyboard.
Your laughter is interrupted by the strident chirp of an incoming priority message. You pull yourself together and hit the accept call button on the holoterminal. "Von Sebastion here, go ahead."
"Jace here. Were getting an automated distress beacon from the surface of NGC-2051 1-4, the ice moon. The catch is we don''t have anyone down there."
Chapter 81: Ice Cubed
You cock an eyebrow at Jace. "Do you want to lead the team, or do you want to delegate this?"
Jace throws his head back and hashes the air with his laugh. "I live for the chance to explore the unknown. I''ll lead the away team."
You grin, for you know just how the allures of the unknown call to a man. For Jace it''s looking for new things. For you, its finding things that mankind has forgotten. "Alright, take a couple of enginseers with you, just in case. I''ll page Bosun Mabis, and have him assign you a squad or two of armsmen for protection and as extra hands.
The shuttle takes off half an hour later. You decide that you miss the Swallow, but you gave it to Zheeves along with the Aegis. You shrug, and make a mental note to acquire a replacement for the Terra Incarnadine. Two actually. One for ''court dress'' occasions, full of creature comforts and the expected ostentatious displays of wealth. The second one armed and armored to the teeth, and ready for any situation that might arise. While you await Jace''s results, you spend several hours with Zheeves and Mu''randa working on Oasis'' Colonial Charter, and drafting (and redrafting) a missive to the local Imperial Fleet Procurement Office on Viking.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
The obvious kind of colony to establish is an industrial colony, focused on extracting the mineral resources found in Riptides'' Asteroids. You know the Imperial Navy is going to want to put in a fleet station to repair and re-launch ships from the massive ship graveyard in the outer system, so you include the provision that the construction and operation of such, if desired, is their responsibility. You also include a notation that the Ordo Xenos has taken an interest in the Xenos hulls in the system, and that you intend to leave them untouched until such time as directed otherwise.
Your group is most divided over what to do with the immediately salvageable hulls. Zheeves is in favor of not mentioning them to the Navy, finding crews and captains for them, and putting them into service at once. This would keep them in Von Sebastion hands, and at negligible cost compared to acquiring such a number of hulls in the future. Mu''randa is in favor of giving some of them to the Imperial Navy, as an inducement to back the colony, and to limit the immediate expenditure of Von Sebastion resources. She points out that founding the colony is likely to eat away quite a significant portion of House Von Sebastion''s current profit margin, possibly as much as thirty percent. If the Navy bought in some of the hulls, that amount would go down.
You call a break for the day when Jace calls in with his initial survey report, and it is quite heartening: the beacon appears to be from a crashed shuttle. The make and model are less than clear, as it is still buried in the ice, but it is definitely Imperial in origin.
Chapter 82: Ice Chips
You write a memo to Zheeves, telling him to go ahead and start finding crews for the Imperial ships. And also to leave the chaos ships well enough alone, and that the Warsphere is still flagged for the Ordo Xenos. This of course tears a huge hunk out of your profit margin, before you have even spent anything on the colony itself.
Jace has requested additional manpower to excavate the entire imperial shuttle out of the ice, tentatively identifying it as a Sokar-Pattern Stormbird Assault Transport. The excavation is ongoing, but you appear to have found your Combat transport of choice, if Jace can get it operational again. And the Deathwatch don''t claim it on their arrival. Kudo has messaged you with the response from Inquisitor Ironsides. He''s on his way, and bringing an entire Deathwatch Strike Force, under the command of a Watch Commander, to deal with the space hulk, tentatively identified as the Malignus Maximus. Upon hearing the name, and seeing the size of the response force, you are quite glad that you didn''t poke it.
One of Jace''s many underlings has also turned in a report indicating that the Terra Incarnadine''s weapons batteries should be installed inside of a week, and that the strike craft salvage operations have netted enough strike craft to replenish your current squadrons and in fact double their effective strength. All well and good, but you can''t shake the feeling that this is the end-game, and that something is going to go wrong somewhere. So you start reviewing the situation in your head.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Tactical:
The Aegis is fully armed and operational. The Terra Incarnadine will be in about a week. The Riptide System is dangerous, but predictably so. The Malignus Maximus is undoubtedly full of Bad Things, but you have no intention of waking them.
Strategic:
Short term, House Von Sebastion is going to have somewhat of a financial crunch. Between what you just committed to investing in crews, and what you will have to spend on the establishment of the Oasis colony, you could be right back where you started financially at least.
Long term, House Von Sebastion lacks an heir. This isn''t something you need to deal with right this moment; Zheeves is a fully capable administrator, and has layers upon layers of capable administrators under him. Mu''randa is a fully capable deputy for him. But neither of them are Von Sebastions. And Yasha Dannan can''t produce an heir of her own body in her current state. And even if she could, would such a child be a Dannan Navigator or a Von Sebastion Rogue Trader?
Such questions are rendered irrelevant to the moment by the arrival of an Imperial Navy Squadron, and their consternation at finding your ships in the system.
Chapter 83: Manners Maketh
You head for the bridge, already calling ahead.
"Simo. what''s the strength of our visitors?"
"Two Sword-class frigates and three Cobra-class destroyers. More than enough to give us a headache in our current state."
"Mu''randa, have they signaled us?"
"They have signaled the Aegis, but not us."
"Alright. Then we just sit here, all inoffensive like, and wait for Zheeves to handle the negotiations." You stride onto the bridge and drop into the captain''s chair. "He''s done right by us in the past, no reason why he would screw us over this time."The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
You stand the crew down from battle stations, and leave Mu''randa on the bridge, with orders to inform you if anything comes up.
Jace reports in on his progress. The Stormbird should be flight-capable, at least enough to bring aboard the Terra Incarnadine, within a day or two. He has also uncovered a number of Archoeotech artifacts, some of which may prove useful, though he will need time to determine all of their properties before clearing them for use.
Several hours later, Zheeves messages you with the current results of his talks with the Navy Patrol. The commander of the patrol was surprised by the presence of the Terra Incarnadine, given that she isn''t a standard Imperial design, and was broadcasting a Rogue Trader House IFF. However, Zheeves was able to mollify him, and it turns out he may have some useful connections. He may be able to put in a good word with the Imperial Navy Procurement Office, but wants the Scutum, the salvageable Dauntless Light Cruiser, earmarked for the Imperial Navy as payment for his services.
Chapter 84: Toys and Boys
You give Zheeves the go-ahead to give away the Scutum, and also send a memo to Jace, letting him know that the Scutum is off the list of vessels to be salvaged. If the Imperial Navy wants her, they they can have her as she currently sits.
A Week Later¡
The Imperial Navy Squadron splits in half, one of the Swords and the Cobras headed back to base for re-armament and resupply. Zheeves follows after them in the Aegis to present the Oasis Colonial Charter himself. The other Sword and two Cobras take up station to observe the Terra Incarnadine''s repair work, to keep an eye on the Scutum herself, and to picket the Malignus Maximus.
Jace has brought the Stormbird, which he has named Olri, up and docked it in the Terra Incarnadine''s number one dorsal shuttle bay, which you gather has become the VIP landing bay. You decide to head down and check it out, along with the other treasures Jace has brought back.
Your first impression on entering the bay is how big Olri actually is. Easily twice, perhaps three times the size of the Deathwatch Thunderhawk you have seen in the past. Olri bristles with firepower, her blunt wings and gun turrets showing four double-barreled laser cannons and three double-barreled heavy bolters. External bomb racks on either side of her troop compartment look ominous even in their empty state. Olri''s paint had been ground away during her encasement in Helia''s icy grip, but you can see paint canisters already on standby at the edge of the bay. Even without paint, Olri''s hull seems to have a resplendent flair to it, despite the dogged determination of her thick armor plating. You get the feeling that she will perform with unsubtle flair and panache, despite anything and everything the enemy might care to throw at her.
Jace hands over a dataslate inventory of all of the other items that he has brought back, though they still require investigation and examination before he will allow anyone to use them. You give it a quick once-over.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
> Three chain axes, a cortex implant set, a crystalline blade, a jump pack, five meshweave cloaks, a multi-compass, a multikey, a Naval Primer, two pistols, four power axes, a set of preysense goggles, a rifle, a relic flail, a reinforced greathelm, a scattergun, and a void suit.
You anticipate the multikey going to either Zheeves or Mu''randa, given that they or their agents occasionally need less-than-legal access to areas. The Cortex Implants will probably end up installed in Jace''s head if they provide an advantage, or reserved to repair a paralyzed officer. The remainder you are not so sure about. You will have to wait and see if any of the items prove safely usable before deciding whether to claim them for yourself or the store them in the officer''s armory.
As you head back to your quarters, awaiting the arrival of the Deathwatch Strike Force or a response from the Imperial Navy Procurement Office, your mind drifts back to wondering how you plan to have an heir.
You could ask Ariavari (if you can find her) to look into repairing Yasha''s womb and look to produce a heir the natural way. This of course requires you to track down an eldar who doesn''t want to be found, and could easily be anywhere in the explored galaxy, or perhaps even beyond it.
You and Yasha could begin to look at adopting a child, but that might bring up all sorts of legal ramifications, particularly in the nature of verifying lineage and competing claims on the ''throne'' of House Von Sebastion. That, and you are not quite sure how your Warrant of Trade will handle such a matter. Losing the bloodline lineage, or even a serious dispute, may well void the Warrant, which would in turn dissolve the House. And internal disputes could turn into outright civil war(s), condemning the House to obscurity and poverty.
You could go the concubine route, but you have no idea as to Yasha''s views on the matter, and you get the feeling that pissing off your Navigator is a fast way to lose time-sensitive cargoes. Not to mention having to deal with the fallout of your relationship if things go pear-shaped. There is only one thing more scary that an ex with a vendetta, and that is an ex with the power to inflict serious harm, both on your body and upon your business and House.
Lastly, you could start looking into in vitro technology. It is hard to find inside the Imperium, but the Tau connection could prove useful, assuming the Inquisition doesn''t object. Even if they don''t, being a so-called ''false man'' carries a certain stigma in large parts of the Imperium which will in turn affect the fortunes of the House. Probably in a negative manner, either due to loss of influence or lost contracts.
Chapter 85: Family Planning
You deice to check with Yasha first and foremost. It may or may not work, doors may open or close, but she has been with you through everything, from the day she brought the Aegis out of the Kania Maw. Given your changed anatomy and her psychic abilities, any child you would make with her would have a high chance of having some sort of psychic abilities and / or physical deformities. And you are not even sure that her body is capable of producing ''natural'' children anymore, not after Kamas turned the lower half of her torso into so much mush. Ariavari did a spectacular job healing her, but did that healing extend to her womb? Yasha didn''t seem to think so the last time you talked about it with her, but perhaps Ariavari or Anai could help. If you can find them.
If Yasha is unwilling or unable to go that route, then it might be possible to create a heir via artificial means, using your and Yasha''s genetic material as the parental blueprints. You don¡¯t know of any Imperial facilities capable of doing so, nor of any Magos Biologis you can trust enough, but perhaps Mu''randa''s Tau connections could prove useful. Their grasp of technology is better in some areas, to a frightening degree. But first you need to talk to Yasha. You knock on the door to her cabin, and enter.
"Yasha? How are you doing?"
Yasha looks up from the letter she is reading. "Fine Tristan. What brings you here unannounced?"
"Us, actually. Up for a little family planning?"
"You know that I can''t bear any children."
"I know, I read the same medical reports you did. But Ariavari healed you once, perhaps she could do so again? or perhaps Anai could..."
Yasha cuts you off. "No, they couldn''t. Trust me on this Tristan, they couldn''t."
That not-human part of you whispers in your ear "She lies..."
You take a seat across from her and make sure the hatch is closed. "Walk me through it then Yasha. Why couldn''t they? Ariavari''s biomancy put you back together after you had gone septic multiple times, had at least two total blood replacements that I know about, put your intestines back together from so many scraps of severed flesh, and make it all work again. Plus you came out of that with some impressive flexibility. That thing you can do with your tongue when we..."If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Yasha coughs, a crimson blush spreading across her face. "Yes, well, uhm."
You just wait while she regains her composure.
"From a technical standpoint, I suppose it is theoretically possible that Ariavari could restore organ function again. The complication would be that she would have to saturate the organ with warp energy. That can twist the form of an adult," she makes one of her inhumanly-fluid gestures indicating the both of you, "the effects is would have on an unborn are too chaotic to predict. A child conceived under such conditions would almost certainly be psychic, probably a navigator. Equally certainly, that same child would be physically deformed. It might be as insignificant as what I was born with," she waggles her overly long fingers, "but probably not."
"We''ve beaten long odds before. what makes this any different?"
"These aren''t just ''long odds''. The only child that would survive without physical deformities or psychic powers would be a blank, a living anti-psychic dead zone. And carrying such a child to term would likely kill me.
"Ok, that conclusively rules out Ariavari. But what about Anai? She did give up these." You tap the brass scarab ''tattoo'' at the base of your throat. "She could probably give us a purely technological solution."
"The same reasons that I turned down that gift would likely apply to any help she could offer. And look at the cost last time she was involved. Your leg and eye, my womb, Adam''s life, Elena''s sanity, Rubicon''s arm... Even if we could find her, and even if she had a workable solution, the cost would be at least as much again. No, better to leave them well enough alone."
"Alright, that leaves the in vitro option. I don''t think we could find a trustworthy source inside the Imperium, but we do have indirect access to Tau medical technology."
"That may work, assuming the Inquisition doesn''t protest. But wouldn''t taking a concubine or two work better? Assuming you can find one who isn''t a psyker, and who is willing to, ahem, with you and perhaps..."
Fellowship Test Successful: Critical Success. Pancakes Ensue.
Several Hours Later...
You are awoken from your post-pancakes nap by an urgent message tone on your personal communicator. Grumbling, you silence the device and pad out of Yasha''s bedroom before accepting audio only. "Tristan here. Go ahead."
"Jace here sir. A Mechanicus Explorator and / or salvage ship has arrived in system. Its commander has identified himself as Magos Explorator Alieus Rex."
"Ah, shit. I''ll meet you on the bridge in fifteen minutes." You close the connection and start looking for your pants.
Chapter 86: Bleep Bloop
You enter the bridge to find Jace already waiting for you. He holds out a dataslate to you, "you are going to want to read this."
You take the slate and power it on, "and this is...?"
"a clear-text transcript of Magos Rex''s transmission."
You read the slate.
>> Authoritative: Magos Explorator Alieus Rex (Shipmaster: Chrysus (Voyager-class salvage ship)) claims this salvage for the Adeptus Mechanicus. Authoritative / Threatening: All scavengers are to disperse at once.
"Arrogant bastard isn''t he. Does he realize just how out-ranked and out-classed he is?"
Jace tilts his head. "Is he?"
You hand the dataslate back to Jace. "I may command the fleet, but you are the Shipmaster of an Ark Mechanicus."
Jace stands a bit taller. "Mu''randa, open a communications channel please. Terra Incarnadine to the Chrysus. Communication will be in Techna-Lingua, so rout a clear-text transcription to Tristan''s data-slate here for archive purposes."
Mu''randa taps away at her terminal for a moment, then gives Jace a thumbs-up. "Communications channel active and recording for archive."
Promptly, a hash of noise echoes over the bridge speaker. Jace rolls his eyes and plugs in a cable. It must lead to an internal headphone, because the noise stops. You glance down at your slate.
>> Rex: Authoritative / Threatening: Why have you not decamped?
>> Echo: Statement of fact: Archmagos Jace Echo (Shipmaster: Terra Incarnadine (Ark Mechanicus)) This salvage is already claimed by the Adeptus Mechanicus, and is being salvaged with the assistance of House Von Sebastion (Rogue Trader House / Warrant Authorized 0 313.421.M30 by the Omnissiah).This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
>> Rex: Incredulous: Why is House Von Sebastion involved?
>> Echo: Statement of fact: Mass of archeotech salvage (5,335 Tons) requires a multi-decade salvage effort. Salvaging of ships (list of hulls appended) requires a multi-century salvage effort. Presence of habitable planet (NGC 2051 1 / Designation: Oasis) requires a colonization effort, to provide a local base of operations for said salvage operations. House Von Sebastion is providing material support to all three requirements in exchange for one usable archeotech artifact (individual-scale) per two tons salvaged, or one usable archeotech artifact (ship component-scale) per ten tons salvaged.
>> Rex: Statement of fact: Understood. Skeptical: High presence of Xenotech detected. Query / Skeptical: intention?
>> Echo: Statement of fact: Intention is to not salvage Xenotech. Deathwatch Strike Force (Authority: Inquisition / Ordo Xenos) is en route (ETA: ???) to evaluate.
>> Rex: Statement of fact: Understood. Moving to assist in Archeotech Salvage efforts.
Rex closes the connection, and you put down the data slate. "And how are our Imperial Navy guests reacting to this?"
Jace shrugs and disconnects his cable. "They haven''t changed their positions, though they did briefly come to battle stations until the Chrysus was identified."
"And we have no good indication as to the expected arrival date of the Deathwatch Strike Force?"
"Correct. We know that they are coming, but do not know their point of origin, so cannot calculate an estimated time of arrival with any degree of confidence."
Mu''randa chimes in from over by the sensor displays. "Warp signature detected. Single ship, Light Cruiser rage. IFF shows Ordo Xenos / Deathwatch prefix, ship name Ebonheart."
"Go head and pass our greetings to them Mu''randa. Full formal phrasing, I think, as we don''t know who''s commanding it."
"On it." Mu''randa drops into the communications console seat and take a moment to adjust her appearance before starting the transmission.
Momenta later, she motions you over. "Message from Inquisitor Ironsides. You are invited to the Ebonheart for a conference on the status of the system and what to do with the Malignus Maximus."
"Alone? Or am I to bring others with me?"
"The message didn''t specify, so it is probably safe to bring along some officers."
Chapter 87: Into the Lair of the Beast
"I''ll be heading over there alone. Have a cutter prepared in half an hour, I''ll fly it myself. In the meantime, I''m going to take a shower."
Mu''randa nods and Jace takes a seat in the Captain''s chair. You exit the bridge.
Back in your quarters, freshly showered and shaved, you put on one of your best official-looking outfits. You strap on Serpentsbreath and your trusty Laspistol, and consider your pulse pistol. Mu''randa, at your request, arranged for Jace, or more likely one of his machinists, to re-do the frame, grip, and barrel shroud to something suitably imperial looking. Overall, it looks like a rather boxy plasma pistol. Given the rarity of such weapons, bringing it would showcase your rise in fortunes since your last interaction with Inquisitor Ironsides.
On the other hand, he or one of the Deathwatch Marines might recognize it as a Tau weapon, or at least a human-made knock-off. Which would be rather embarrassing, and possibly fatal. You take along your trusty Foehammer instead, resolving to pick up a suitably Imperial alternative at some point in the future.
Several hours later you dock your unassuming cutter with the Ebonheart. You follow the Landing Signal Officer''s directions, placing your landing gear down in your indicated spot, and disembark into the ordered chaos of a flight deck under active operation. You duck nimbly out of the way of the deck crews and follow a half-masked fellow in a lieutenant''s tunic.
You follow him up several decks, noting the extra-tall ceilings and extra-wide corridors. Rubicon or Lord Pyrus would fill one of Aegis'' hallways wall-to-wall and nearly deck-to-overhead in their power armor. Less so aboard the Terra Incarnadine, considering parts of her used to be an Astartes ship. But the Ebonheart is built to accommodate Space Marines at all times, which leaves you feeling a bit like a child sitting at the adult''s table.
Soon enough you arrive at a door flanked by a pair of black-armored guardsman badged with the heraldry of the Inquisition. The Lieutenant announces your presence, and the guardsmen part to allow you passage. You take a slow breath to clear your mind and enter the room.
You were expecting a dimly-lit conference room, shrouded in intrigue and shadows, illuminated by candles. Instead, you are greeted by an immense oaken round table in a well-lit conference room. The walls are bedecked with simple banners in bold colors. Seated around it are Inquisitor Ironsides, Lord Pyrus, a troubled-looking Sargent Danus, Rubicon, and a Deathwatch Marine you presume to be the commanding officer of the Strike Force. You take the available chair, and the guardsmen close the door from the outside.
He speaks in the resonant, echoing tones you have come to associate with Space Marines. "Quite the impressive flotilla you have amassed for yourself Master Von Sebastion. A Battleship, a Voyager, your original Sword, and two Cobras."
"Only The Terra Incarnadine and the Aegis are mine, sir. The Chrysus is an Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator ship, one Magos Explorator Alieus Rex commanding. He arrived in system not to long ago. The other Sword and Cobras are part of an Imperial Navy squadron that was passing through. The other ships of that squadron, along with the Aegis, are returning or have returned to Viking for resupply." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Danus leans forwards, "why did you summon the Deathwatch? With such a rich salvage area available, why not keep it all for yourself? You have the manpower and firepower to exploit all of it."
You snort. "You may be above easy reach of the Inquisition, but I am not. Battleship or no, armsmen or no, the only thing I could do is to force them to expend more resources if they want to get me. So I''m more than willing to settle for a portion of the human-origin salvage, and leave all of the Xenotech to the Ordo Xenos.
"And getting that portion will require a multi-decade effort at least, and require the assistance of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Assistance they do not give lightly or cheaply. That effort is going to need a permanent base of operations, which will be anchored around Oasis, the habitable planet in this system. That level of industry and ship-salvage is going to attract predators, so the Imperial Navy is getting a cut of the human-origin salvage in trade for basing a squadron in the system."
Ironsides leans back in his chair. "So Generous Shipmaster Von Sebastion! This must be costing you quite a fortune, so what does House Von Sebastion stand to gain from all of this?"
"As I said, a portion of the human-origin salvage, plus a profit-earning share of the Oasis colony. All told, the salvage will amount to twelve ships in the next decade or so, and the colony-share will pay for both its initial investment, all of its infrastructure requirements, and crewing the new ships."
Rubicon cocks an eyebrow. "Which twelve ships would you pick, given your choice?"
"Three Swords, two Falchions, two Firestorms, two Lokis, one Vagabond, one Orion, plus one of the human hulks, probably another Orion or Loki. Most of the escorts would be stationed here as a system defense force, or dispatched individually to escort particularly sensitive cargoes. The other escorts would accompany the Terra Incarnadine in pushing forth the borders of the Imperium. The merchant ships would be assigned to semi-permanent trade routes and armed well enough to look after themselves."
Rubicon cocks an eyebrow at Lord Pyrus, who simply shakes his head.
You rest your hands on the tabletop. "Will the interrogation be continuing, or shall we get around to dealing with the Malignus Maximus, which was why I was summoned here?"
Lord Pyrus looks directly into your eyes. "What needs to be established is how much you have been changed by the energies that suffused you since the Kanus Incident. Given that Helheim hasn''t blown your head off, the changes must be either negligible or subtle."
"Helheim?"
"Helheim Blackfang. You know him as Direwolf. Care to make your report Helheim?"
Danus stiffens as you hear the deliberate *thump* of a footstep behind you. How Direwolf can move so quietly with so many augmetics, you have no idea.
"As far as my senses can tell, Master Von Sebastion here has done nothing too far outside the scope of what a common chartist captain would be allowed to do, much less a Rogue Trader of his vaunted Warrant. Nor has he abused the sanction of the Ordo Xenos, however tacitly it was given. The one thing I cannot speak to definitively is warp taint, though I have seen no physical evidence thereof."
The Force Commander taps one gauntleted finger against the chin of his helmet. "And you detect nothing out of the ordinary Lord Pyrus?"
Pyrus shakes his head, "Nothing beyond that which I would expect to see in a void-bound shipmaster. Certainly nothing like the surge of energies during the Kamas Incident. I think that surge can be attributed to the meddling of the Eldar, perhaps the after-effect of some hex?"
Direwolf grunts, "She did lay him and his Navigator out cold with a single flick of her wrist, and vanish into thin air not soon after. When they woke up, they did express evidence that they had had the same dream or hallucination."
Lord Pyrus looks right at you. "Care to elaborate?"
Chapter 88: Truth Will Out
You exhale slowly, settling your mind as you prepare yourself. "Understand that I am no psyker, and have made no extensive study of their arts. Therefore, I am left with guesses and hypotheses at best. As I told Lord Pyrus at the time, the eldar mind-blasted me. As far as I can tell, she knocked out both myself and Yasha Dannan, my Navigator, by forcing a non-human memory into our brains. The Intended effect was that our human minds wouldn''t be able to process the information, and would perform the biological equivalent of restarting, leaving us unconscious long enough for the eldar to escape.
"If that was the eldar''s intent, it both worked and didn''t. We were both asleep and Dreaming for a period of time. As to how long, I''d have to check the logs, because I honestly do not recall. Either the memory the eldar used was simple enough to comprehend, or had some metaphysical comparability factor, because our minds understood it, enough to present it as a rather vivid Dream.
"If I am parsing that Dream correctly, it wasn''t even an Eldar memory, but one borrowed or taken from another race. I kept getting a mixture of physical sensations and what I can only describe as a machine error-log. Physical information included red sand underfoot, a sand storm bearing down, a map rendered useless by shifting sands, an obelisk with a Shard of something encased in the tip, a red gemstone being pushed into a torso. The ''error log'' kept spitting information about an auto-repair function being non-operational and memory-engram damage."
You pause to take a breath and glance around the table. Inquisitor Ironsides is staring at you in disbelief. Lord Pyrus Looks stunned, almost shell-shocked at the implications. Rubicon looks as if he wants to start spitting curses, but is too polite to interrupt. Sargent Danus looks even more troubled, his brow creased into a furious frown. Direwolf shifts uneasily behind you, the hiss of his augmetic lung echoing in the silence. Only the Force Commander looks unperturbed, gesturing for you to continue.
The voice of your instinct whispers into the back of your brain "mind your tongue..."
"That is all I think I understand clearly enough to comment on. I could speculate, but It would be the wild-assed guesses of the uninformed, and form the looks on your faces, there is clearly more to this that I do not comprehend."
Rubicon rubs his chin, looking thoughtful, "''the best swordsman does not fear the second best, he fears the worst swordsman, for he has no idea what he will do.'' Go ahead and speculate Master Von Sebastion, it might turn up something useful."Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"With that caveat that what I say is only speculation, and that I''m doing so blindly, I have a couple of guesses.
"One: the Shard in the Dream is similar to the Shard recovered from the Terra Incarnadine. If that is the case, it is incredibly unstable. The Dream-Shard detonated on contact with a strong wind, and the Terra Incarnadine Shard may do the same.
"Two: the Dream came from a race that was as much machine as flesh, if not more. Perhaps the same race as Kamas the Technomancer.
"Three: that race is older than humanity. I''ve no hard numbers, but the Dream felt ancient."
From the ensuing reactions you can tell that your speculation isn''t all that wild. Silence reigns for a few long heartbeats. You can all but feel the intensity of the scrutiny focused upon you. They are wondering how much you know and how much you have guessed. How much you have told them, and how much you are either holding back or have forgotten.
Inquisitor Ironsides blinks first. "I think your days as an independent Rogue Trader are all but at an end. For the past few years, you have served the Ordo Xenos, knowingly or not, and I think it''s time that I formally added you to the ranks."
One of your eyebrows twitches slightly. "I can''t say I haven''t seen this coming. From Mira Steel and the Leaf turning up right when House Von Sebastion needed a captain and ship for a particularly sensitive cargo route, to Kudo Tamefusa turning up when we needed an astropath, to the information dead drops, and the convenient appearance of Lord Pyrus, Rubicon, Helheim Blackfang, and Sargent Danus all turning up at opportune times, you have taken an interest in me. Add in the fact that I now possess the Terra Incarnadine, a battleship when the Subsector and Sector fleets rely on light cruisers and cruisers, and no one has raised objections, and you were planning to make use of me."
The Force Commander leans forward, and you can hear Helheim shift behind you. "Thus to the moment of decision. You know far too much, and have far too much strength, to be allowed to continue as you are. You have shown loyalty to the Imperium in your obedience to the Ordos of the Inquisition, and in pushing forth the borders of the Imperium without demanding more than your fair share.
"Will you pledge House Von Sebastion, in its entirety and in perpetuity, to the service of the Deathwatch? Or to the Ordo Xenos?"
Chapter 89: On My Soul Do I Swear...
You hold up your right hand, palm upwards. "On one hand, I believe the Deathwatch would appreciate the firepower of the Terra Incarnadine more than the Ordo Xenos, where subtly may be useful on occasion." You ignore a snort of amusement from Inquisitor Ironsides and lower your right hand. "This is offset by notably higher chance of a fatal misunderstanding, should a particularly, uhm, Zealous Deathwatch Marine take umbrage to her legion origins." Danus raises an eyebrow as you confirm that you know just how old the Terra Incarnadine''s plasma drive is.
"Therefore, I will pledge myself, House Von Sebastion, and House Dannan to the Ordo Xenos in perpetuity."
Inquisitor Olaf raises an eyebrow. "The Navigator House Dannan? how can you speak for them?"
You rub your chin. "Because House Von Sebastion exercised a clause in its Warrant to create House Dannan from the ruins of House Saurlance, and because the entirety of house Dannan is currently in service to House Von Sebastion in one form or another.
Lord Pyrus tilts his head slightly. "Who exactly transferred from Saurlance to Dannan, and how?"
"Vir Saurlance married Morrigan Ni Dannan, and fathered a daughter with her. The Matriarch of House Saurlance tried to kidnap Vir and his daughter, who naturally objected strenuously. At that point Zheeves activated the clause and created House Dannan, with Vir as its Patriarch. Vir Changed his name from Saurlance to Dannan in the process, and Yasha also transferred across, to give House Dannan an actual Navigator."
Lord Pyrus stares at a point just above your head. "Tangled webs..."
Helheim all but whispers "wyrd upon wyrd..."
The Force Commander, Rubicon, Inquisitor Ironsides, and Danus are all looking between the two. Finally Lord Pyrus shakes himself, like a dog shedding water, before answering in hushed tones. "The Kania Incursion. Vir was the Beacon, Yasha the Guide."If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Helheim continues. "The Eldarim Incident. Morrigan was one of three survivors."
Inquisitor Ironsides perks up at this. "We, the Ordos that is, lost track of the other two. They were bridge crew, but we never figured out which ones. Now we have a lead."
You snort. "You have more than that. Simo Sorro, the Terra Incarnadine''s Master of Ordinance, and Frank Hopkins, her Helmsmaster, are the other two survivors."
The force commander stands up. "This truly is a day for revelations, but there are a couple of procedural matters that should perhaps be taken care of at this time. Tristan Von Sebastion, are you prepared to pledge yourself and the Houses under your command to the Ordo Xenos of the Inquisition of the Imperium of Man?"
You rise to face him. "I am."
"Then I shalt witness your oaths. Come, let us take this to the Sanctum."
You swear your oath to the Ordo Xenos, in the person of Inquisitor Ironsides, before the Force Commander and the other members of his command squad, as well as a dozen other marines who had gathered in the Sanctum. For all of its weight and importance, the moment is marked by a singing stillness in the air. A sense that a truly momentous event has transpired, one that may come to shape the Galaxy at large.
Bearing your new badge of service; a small ivory skull amulet no bigger than your thumbnail, you lead Inquisitor Ironsides and the Force Commander back to your cutter for the flight back to the Terra Incarnadine.
Several hours later¡
Upon returning to the Terra Incarnadine, you promptly call an Officer''s meeting to discuss what to do with the Malignus Maximus. Your colony on Oasis can''t properly go forward with a space hulk in the system, and the forces of the Imperium need to coordinate their efforts to end it. To that end, you also put in a call for Magos Rex and the senior officer of the Imperial Navy Squadron to attend.
Well, Inquisitor Ironsides puts in the call, with your ship as the meeting location. It will take everyone not aboard about a day to gather, but that does give you time to talk to someone if you want to.
Chapter 90: Responsibilities
You decide to check in with Inquisitor Ironsides and see what you new responsibilities will entail. Mu''randa has gone ahead and assigned him a stateroom one deck down from yours, with a fantastic view of the arboretum deck in all its artificial natural beauty.
You find him staring out across the treetops listening to the sound to the birds. You stand next to him and take in the scenery for a while.
"A wonderful ship you have here Shipmaster Von Sebastion.¡±
"Thank you Inquisitor.¡±
"I Imagine you have questions?"
"Of course. And I know that there is far more information out there that you can''t or won''t tell me for whatever reason. I accept that, and I won''t pry, but I do expect to be told what I need to know."
"A reasonable assumption and request. Very well, ask away. I will answer if I can."
"Mostly, what will my new duties entail? How closely do you intend to bind House Von Sebastion to your own work or that of the Ordos?"
"In large part, you will keep doing what you are already doing. Your Oath was mostly a formality, though it does open up several doors a crack. The Ordos will have missions for you from time to time, and we do intend to keep close track on the Terra Incarnadine. In exchange, you can count on a certain level of financial compensation, technical support, and logistical backing."
"In layman''s terms, I''m to keep doing what I''m already doing, perform particular tasks from time to time, and I can expect the support of the Ordo Xenos in the doing?"
"Yes, to a degree. Cross too many lines, or flaunt your new affiliation too openly, and you can expect that support to be withdrawn."
"Right. Then you should know that, as of now, House Von Sebastion lacks an heir."
"Oh? how is that my concern?"
"For your information, not action. I intend to rectify that situation, but may need to pry into area outside of the Imperium to do so. I figured you''d find out anyway, so I decided to tell you first."This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"How so?"
"The probable Ms. Von Sebastion is barren, and I''m not sure that any Imperial tech can fix it. I was planning on poking around to see if Tau medical tech was any better in that regard, but I don''t have much hope."
"I could arrange for an Imperial facility..."
"The problem is that her half of the ''equation'' is either missing or damaged beyond ''normal'' functionality."
"Ah."
"Precisely. I don''t expect to find anything of use to my ends, but whatever I do find I will of course pass on."
The Next Morning¡
All of the officers are standing about a holotable debating over what to do about the Malignus Maximus. Simo, Frank, and Yasha are all in favor of simply bombarding the hulk until is ceases to exist. Jace, Rex, and the Force Commander (who you still don''t have a name for) vehemently oppose that plan, as they say it would result in the loss of irreplaceable knowledge.
You eye Kudo and Inquisitor Ironsides and shake your head. You take a large swallow of tea before putting your own plan forward. "Gentlemen, and ladies, what we have here is a lack of information. We have a name: the Malignus Maximus. What we don''t have is any kind of recent scans of its interior, or locations of possible inhabitants, or data-caches. While I may agree that the risks of boarding a space hulk are ridiculously high, so are the potential rewards.
"I''m no military expert, nor a master of technology. But even I can see that we need to get that information before we can make a final decision on what to do about her. Phase one of our plans therefore should therefore be to get as much of the information we need about the hulk. External scans, focused deep scans, and hull maps first. Unless those reveal overwhelming opposition or hazards, we can then find a suitable landing zone.
"Phase two gets a little more variable. We will need to land and secure a beachhead from which to operate deeper into the hulk. Or to fall back upon if needed. Securing that beachhead will likely have to be done in vacuum, so the Deathwatch will almost certainly have to lead. Follow up waves of Armsmen can fortify that beachhead while the Deathwatch stands down to reload and rearm. Once the beachhead is secured and fortified, the third wave of tech specialists can follow on. CATs and scouts can push forward into the hulk for more information. The Phase One scans may have targets for them already, or they may have to operate totally blind.
"Phase three is the most nebulous, as it will depend on what the CATs and scouts find. We may need to evacuate the hulk and commence bombardment operations if we find overwhelming opposition or hazards. We may find that the opposition is nominal, and undertake operations to eliminate it. Or we may find that we can secure the data-caches we need without even engaging any possible opposition."
Mabis and the Force Commander are looking at you with respect, as are Jace and Rex. Simo and Frank are more Dubious, but Yasha is slowly nodding as she mulls over your sketched out plan.
Olaf grins at you. "The question now Shipmaster Von Sebastion is weather or not you will be joining our little expedition."
Chapter 91: Times up, Lets Do This
"Of course I''m part of the expedition. Jace, is the Olri combat ready?"
"The last coat of paint is drying as we speak. Her macro-bombs aren''t ready yet, but that won''t be an issue in a void-landing scenario. landing zones would be too cramped."
"Then let''s get these ships off the field. The Terra Incarnadine, Ebonheart, and Chrysus will begin scanning the Malignus Maximus in preparation for phase two. Jace, please have the Olri prepped and ready for launch. Mabis, you know your regiment best, so I''ll leave their disposition in your hands."
Several Hours Later¡
The scans of the Malignus Maximus are coming up suspiciously empty. No life-signs bigger than a terran rat, scattered power and heat signatures consistent with backup or emergency generators, and minimal warp-energy signatures. Rex wanted to declare the hulk clear and simply move in to start scavenging, but Jace sat on him, probably sharing some of the details about what happened aboard Gibli. The Ebonheart fires up her teleporters and sends a wave of CATs in to start poking around while the Deathwatch teams work to pry open a landing bay aboard one of the hulked ships making up the outer crust of the Malignus Maximus. Jace starts off a set of deep scans, trying to get at least some idea at the core structure of the space hulk. What he finds is a touch unusual.
The core of the Malignus Maximus is an abandoned human orbital defense station instead of the usual asteroid or compressed ship-corpses. It may even contain sensor records of the events that lead it to become the core of the Malignus Maximus in the first place. Such data would be quite literally invaluable to the Imperium. It would allow ships and stations to be constructed in such a way as to be less likely to become space hulks in the first place. It would allow defensive forces to destroy drifting Space Hulks more easily, and reclamation teams to scavenge them far more efficiently.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
But it does leave you with a bit of an issue. You can no longer simply destroy the Malignus Maximus. You are going to have to clear her out, one ruined ship at a time, deck-by-deck and room-by-room.
Finally the word comes back that the landing bay is cleared and ready. You make your final preparations and strap on all of your wargear and head for the Olri. Yasha, Mu''randa, and Jace join you, with Frank, Simo, and Kudo staying behind to keep an eye on the Terra Incarnadine.
Securing the landing zone is anti-climactic. Nothing comes scuttling out of the shadows to greet you, and Mabis sets his men to securing the area and surrounding compartments without much fuss or bother. He makes sure to go up and down a deck as well as simply spreading out on the existing one, his experience in city and hive fighting standing him in good stead. The presence of the Olri does raise more than a few eyebrows among your fellow explorers, but given that two more stormbirds are sitting abandoned in the landing bay for them to claim, they can''t really object.
Jace releases the second wave of CATs, and Rex also unleashes a set of hovering survey drones. Mabis details a recon platoon to scout the immediate area. Helheim and four other Deathwatch Marines head for the deeper areas of the Malignus Maximus, probing for passages and threats deeper in.
Not even a half hour later, with the primary objective of finding a path deeper in not yet met, three secondary objectives have already become apparent. Lord Pyrus and Rubicon are both preparing squads, but you have been tapped to lead the third party.
Chapter 92: Rust?
Your team is instructed to examine a locked armory not far off of one of the main passageways deeper into the hulk. With the mission objectives distributed, your group of four heads for the armory. Almost immediately, you encounter the reason for the semi-vague maps of the route. Bad flooring is the norm, and more than once you have to mind your footing around gaps.
Eventually you near your objective, and make an unpleasant discovery. Exposed wiring sputters and sparks at random intervals as something shorts out in time to an erratic air current in some crawlspace somewhere. With the armored and (presumably) locked door of your objective in sight, you decide to brave the wiring instead of spending several hours trying to find a way around.
Jace steps up and starts surveying the damage. "The surges are coming at erratic intervals between three and thirteen seconds, but there is enough space for one or two people to stand safely between wires."
Yasha spits on the deck. "You first then Jace. I doubt you''d mind a shock as much as the rest of us would."
Jace nods, waits for a surge to pass, then steps forward and ducks under the first hanging cable. Standing in a new spot, he looks for a way to disconnect the wiring to make the passageway safe. Shrugging, he pulls on a set of heavy leather gloves, powers up the cutting attachment on his combi-tool, and simply cuts the first wire free of the bulkhead. It drops smoking to the floor, with more smoke rising from Jace''s gloves.
"There are two more wires that will need removed. Please stand clear in case I mistime one of the cuts."
Shortly thereafter, and with Jace only narrowly missing being fried by another two surges, you stand at the door.
Jace starts prodding at the electronic locking mechanism. Yasha and Mu''randa cover the corridor behind your party. and you stare at the door itself.
"Is it just me, or does this door look clawed on?"
Jace looks up from his investigation. "no, but it is rusted in an unusual pattern..."
He breaks off as you poke a ''rusted'' section, and red-black flakes come away. You grimace. "Not rusted, bloodied. No telling how old it is. We may not be alone."
Mu''randa twitches at your announcement, but Yahsa is unperturbed. Jace resumes his work and to door soon opens. Inside, you find the restatements of an armory. There is basic ammunition and grenades aplenty, and your entire team stocks up.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Glancing around, you quickly realize that every weapons locker is either smashed or unlocked. You check quickly but thoroughly and confirm your first guess. There are no weapons to be scavenged here.
The lights in the entry hall flicker and blow out as the power surges back online. Rubicon must have gotten the generator back online. The red emergency light in the armory itself thrum back to life.
Your party quickly falls back on the beachhead.
Upon conferring with the other teams, you are not alone in your suspicions by a longshot. Rubicon''s team encountered only a few Ghilliam and a Hullghast chewing on dusty bones that on closer inspection something else had killed. Lord Pyrus reports that the CAT was immobilized when its treads got stuck in some flooring mesh that had been torn up by something clawed or hooved moving at high speed.
The consensus is unanimous, you are not alone in this hulk.
The Force commander rolls his head and cracks his neck as he ponders. "The problem is that we have inconsistent information on the kind of foe we face. Ghilliam and Hullghasts are once-humans mutated by radiation and warp-exposure, but they don''t run about on claws or hooves. Nor do they use firearms. So we have at least two, probably three, and possibly more kinds of opposition in this hulk. Fortunately, they aren''t present in massive numbers, or our sensors, scouts, and CATs would have run across them by now.
¡°Thus, phase two continues in reconnaissance mode for now. Helheim and his scouts have yet to report any hostile contact, but their signals are intermittent due to the intervening bulk of the Malignus Maximus. Rubicon, your team will follow their route and try to reestablish contact with them. Once you do, fall back into communications range of the main beachhead and await new developments. we may call you back in for resupply or direct you to new targets.
¡°Lord Pyrus, you are to take your squad and lead a reconnaissance sweep on the decks immediately below our current position. Mabis'' has secured a deck or so down, so poke around three or five decks down before returning. I''ll be dispatching another squad under Danus to do the same on the decks above us.
¡°As for you Master Von Sebastion, I''m inclined to use your team to secure secondary and tertiary objective the other squads have located and left behind. You aren''t as heavily armored, nor are you able to tolerate all of the environmental conditions you might run into. Take a rest break for now, then check back in. I''ll have a list of targets for you by then.¡±
You nod, relieved to not be at the very tip of the spear pushing into completely unknown and perilous territory.
When you return three rest-filled hours later, you find the promised list of targets. It is only two items long at the moment, but promises to grow as time passes. None of the entries indicate any particular priority.
1) Reconnaissance: Check the contents of a trio of fuel silos.
Scout''s notes: all three silos are stable, but their contents are unknown at this time. Biosigns negative at this time. Bypassing to continue sweep.
2) Sabotage: Shut down a Warp Drive just outside the perimeter.
Scout''s notes: Warp Drive is online in tick-over mode. Probably stable, though a major power surge may either re-activate or detonate it. Unequipped to deal with the problem at the moment, objective marked for follow-up.
Chapter 93: Topsy Turvey
You mark off the warp drive as your objective, assemble your team, and head out. The path is short and well-mapped, having been scouted out before, but your instincts are poking at you like an itch you can''t quite scratch as you enter the ship-section that houses the warp drive. So you call rest breaks slightly more often than needed, just to look around a bit more. The details start to add up, but you still can''t quite pin down what''s bothering you. The floor is the expected heavy-duty mesh raised above ducting. The overhead is smooth plating, the paint worn away down the middle. The lights tend to either be mounted in the floor or low in the walls facing upwards.
Entering the compartment containing the warp drive in question, you and your team out to survey and secure the area. The floor is largely clear of obstructions, aside from thick cables and conduits reaching up and connecting to the floor-to-ceiling hulk of the warp drive.
As you glance about, Mu''randa speaks up. "I''m not seeing any control consoles. Anyone have eyes on them?"
Your instincts prod you again, and you decide to look up. And up and up. All the way to the top of the tree-deck-tall compartment to stare at the overhead.
which you realize isn''t an overhead at all, but rather the floor, were the compartment right-side-up. Your eyes quickly locate the command and control consoles. "I do. On the ceiling."
Yasha and Mu''randa take a moment to process what you are saying, piecing it all together.
Jace takes even less time to start cursing is some dialect of enginseer. "Kludge. MegaKludge to the MotherFrakiking Max."
You give him a moment to vent before venturing you opinion. "Best way to cut power to this thing is going to be severing these cables, right?"
Jace sucks air through his teeth for a long moment before replying. "Probably. Yasha, I''m going to need your assistance. Some of these cables may be psi-actives linked into the navigator controls or the warp core. And for damn sure nothing is labeled, and we''re going to have to trace them all to figure out what we need to sever and in what order."
Yasha moves to assist him. "Any idea what I should be looking for, because..."
You leave them to it and gesture for Mu''randa to accompany you in a check of the local perimeter.
Safely out of earshot of Jace and Yasha, you start asking some questions. "You have any familiarity with the Tau''s medical sciences?"
"Nothing besides basic primary care. Why the sudden interest?"
"Well, House Von Sebastion is without an heir..." You walk her through the basic situation and your thoughts that, just perhaps, the Tau might have better medical science than the Imperium in some areas.
Mu''randa pauses in her check of yet another empty hallway to think hard for a moment. "Nothing I can think of, though there were some vague rumors about some of the experimental medical teams vivisecting or dissecting psykers to try and learn how they worked. The Tau don''t have psykers of Navigators, and some of them really wanted to know more."Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Your blood runs cold at the word ''vivisection''. The thought of Yasha falling into the hands of an unscrupulous Tau medic and being experimented on fills you with dread. "That sounds rather not good. Could we make discreet inquiries..."
Mu''randa cuts you off. "Not discreet enough. We would have to let at least the Tau medic in question know what was needed, and he would keep notes at least, and disseminate them along with his findings. They really want to know what makes psykers and how they function. That would put us in a strong bargaining position, but at least some of them would be tempted to make you or Yasha vanish, or keep extra ''samples'', or..."
You let her speculate for a bit, mulling some things over. "Well, that leaves the ''harem'' option..."
Mu''randa blurts out ¡®¡®harem?¡¯¡¯
You shake, realizing that you had spoken aloud. "Well, producing an heir to House Von Sebastion would require..." You explain the legal mechanics of what would need to be done, leaving any salacious details unsaid.
It is clear that Mu''randa is thinking about them anyway. You make a mental note to point Yasha in her direction, as she may be able to ferret out more information, as well as needing to make up her own mind on that particular matter.
A shout from the direction of the warp drive draws your attention. Jace has apparently cut into one of the power cables without injuring himself, and something in the drive has decided to give out. You and Mu''randa move back to see what is going on, bout you throw your left arm across her chest to hold her back as you feel the hairs on the back of your neck rise. There is definitely psychic energy in the air, probably from one of the containment fields shutting down after its power was cut.
Your eyes go wide as Jace dashes towards another cable with his Omnisian-pattern Combi-tool raised high, its cutting edge rippling with the power of its disruptor field. He brings it slashing down, cleaving deep into the cable and you hear an audible POP just behind your left ear as the warp drive shuts down.
You raise an eyebrow as the hairs on the back of your neck slowly settle back down and you become aware of where your left hand is. And of Mu''randa''s racing heartbeat. You quickly withdraw your hand with a muttered apology. Mu''randa just shakes it off. With the Warp Drive shut down for good, you reassemble your team and head back to the beachhead.
After marking the warp drive as disabled on the secondary objectives list, you stand your team down for another rest period. You exchange some quick words with Yasha, passing on your earlier observations, and head for your bunk.
You check the survey maps when you wake. The boundaries have been pushed a little further, and you note the markers of several Armsmen positions further forward, blocking off key routes towards the Beachhead. Clearly Mabis and the Force Commander are thinking of pushing the perimeter outwards as more of the hulk is surveyed.
You sigh and check the secondary objectives list.
1) Reconnaissance: Check the contents of a trio of fuel silos.
Scout''s notes: all three silos are stable, but their contents are unknown at this time. Biosigns negative at this time. Bypassing to continue sweep.
Addendum: possible Ghilliam / Hullghast nest in the area. Eliminate if encountered.
2) Recovery: Secure a possible archeotech cache.
Scout''s notes: Objective bypassed due to medical conditions and ammunition shortage. Area not investigated thoroughly.
Chapter 94: Shiny Things?
You mark off the possible archeotech cache as you objective, assemble your team, and head out. Jace is slightly more energetic than usual, excited to be digging up bits of the past. Yasha and Mu''randa stick close together, and you purposely ignore their chatter, letting them talk in semi-privacy.
With everyone else being semi-distracted, you pay close attention to your surroundings. Like your last few outings the ship around you is fairly standard imperial construction, right-side-up this time around. The lights are functional, and the corridor is well-illuminated as a result.
You come to an intersection, lacking all signage of course, and check your dataslate, pulling up the map. You check and re-check your location, before finally determining that you are lost. You know that you are still within a mapped area, that you can retrace your steps to find a semi-familiar area, and that there should be something to find in the area, hopefully an archeotech cache. You decide to press onward and try your luck after a brief bit of backtracking. You head back a few intersections and check the map again. Now you are certain something is wrong: What your map shows as a 4-way intersection is in fact a T-junction.
"Jace, I hate to admit it, but I''m lost. Can you give me a hand here? I think we need to head left here, but that''s a wall..."
Jace takes the dataslate with the map and stares at it. He glances up and looks at the intersection, down at the dataslate, up at a distinctive mark on a bulkhead, back at the slate, and sighs. "I think this ship had a Tenebro Maze component. A combination of deliberately inaccurate maps and scanner spoofers, designed to mislead anyone attempting to map it. Also useful for confusing or diverting boarding attempts, as the local crew would be familiar with the actual layout. If we''re catching the edge of it here, then..."
Jace studies the map some more. "Perhaps that way? Nonono. Need to confirm the edge of the maze. Cache likely to be in the center of it. Back one intersection, take left, note discrepancies, double back, repeat until edge confirmed and corner found. Up a deck? No stairs or lifts evident nearby..."
You clasp Jace on the shoulder, feeling the edge of one or more augmentations under his grubby white robes. "Lead the way Jace. Just try to get us there sometime today?"
Jace nods, still studying the map, and heads off. You gesture to the ladies to follow along.
Three hours later, with some unknown percentage of the Tenebro Maze mapped out, you get a bit lucky.
Or unlucky, depending on how you look at it.
You all but trip over the corpses of two dead Deathwatch Marines. After an initial round of shock and disgust, your team starts making some observations. Their cause of death is rather obvious. One is missing most of their torso, his power armor torn clean through by something with three-clawed hands. The second was killed by the same creature, hamstrings and throat torn out in raking passes.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
You and Yasha cover the hallways while Jace and Mu''randa make more detailed observations.
Mu''randa makes a guess at the wounds. "Three-clawed, but too clean for common keratin or bone claws. This was a dedicated predator, specializing in taking down armored prey in high speed ambush attacks."
Jace is more interested in the armor. "Old marks of power armor. One mark five and one mark six, both bearing Deathwatch markings. Left pauldron markings obscured by battle damage or faded paint."
"No markings on the floor, and the dust would have obscured any tracks..."
"Weapons of similar age to the armor. Astartes grade, of course, and gene-locked to the former users..."
Mu''randa lets out a small gasp. "Claw-markings on the ceiling and walls, interspersed with bolter damage. Point of origin for both is a knee-high air duct, too small for a human or Tau to walk in upright. Looks like only one attacker. Hamstrung the one marine, jumped around for a bit, tore the other marine''s chest, and came back to the first one''s throat."
"Remains desiccated by age. Estimate several decades since last disturbed, going by dust accumulation, assuming a standard rate of undisturbed deposition..."
Your mouth has been growing steadily dryer as their twin monologues run on. "How about we mark this for a Deathwatch Reclamation Team and come back later. I''m getting a bad feeling about this..."
You motion is quickly seconded, thirded, and carried without objection. Jace deploys a beacon, marks the coordinates on the (now updated) map, and all of you begin retracing your steps towards the Beachhead.
Five hours later, you make it back intact, if shaken. You quickly deposit the updated map, mark your chosen objective as as-yet uncompleted, and add in the notation for a reclamation team. You promptly head off to crash out for the night.
1) Reconnaissance: Check the contents of a trio of fuel silos.
1) Cleanse: Exterminate the Ghilliam nesting in and around a trio of fuel silos.
Scout''s notes: all three silos are stable, but their contents are unknown at this time. Biosigns negative at this time. Bypassing to continue sweep.
Addendum: Possible Ghilliam / Hullghast nest in the area. Eliminate if encountered.
Addendum Secundus: Ghilliam presence confirmed. Mission upgraded to Cleanse. Advise against the use of incendiary weapons due to promethium vapor traces. Possibility of catastrophic secondary or tertiary explosions too likely.
2) Recovery: Secure a possible archeotech cache.
Scout''s notes: Objective bypassed due to medical conditions and ammunition shortage. Area not investigated thoroughly.
Addendum: Objective located inside a Tenebro Maze. Advise patience, persistence, and good mapping.
3) Reconnaissance: Unusual ship hull signature.
Scout''s notes: Scans indicate a hull of non-imperial construction six decks down and two ship-hulls outside of mapped areas. Hull is non-ferric, but also non-organic in nature.
Chapter 95: Incombustible, Probably...
You gather your team and consult the listing of objectives up for completion. You eye the cleanse mission, eager to get stuck in, but leery of detonating a Fuel/Air Explosive quite that large.
"Ok, none of us have flamers or incendiaries, but will plasma weapons set this stuff off? Las? Slugthrowers?"
Jace chimes in "Plasma almost certainly, slugthrowers as well. The detonation of their propellants would do the job. Lasers and hellguns are likely to as well, due to the energy transfer at the impact point of the projectile."
"So in other words, we are limited to un-powered melee weapons."
You glance about. You have Serpentsbreath, though it won''t be as effective without the disruption field active. Jace has his Omnisian-pattern Combi-tool, though it will be almost more useful as a warhammer without the disruption field offline. Yasha has a simple metal staff, and Mu''randa has a Kraken tooth dagger.
"Against a few Ghilliam, we should be ok, I hope. So long as there aren''t too many."
Seven hours later, and with nine isolated Ghilliam dealt with, you and your team have settled into a groove approaching mechanical precision. Jace at the fore, Yasha at the rear, yourself and Mu''randa in the middle. The long weapons pin the latest Ghilliam to the ground to be finished off quickly by the shorter blades. Jace has killed more than one Ghilliam outright, spearing them with the point of his combi-tool as they charge mindlessly forwards.
Now comes the real test. You approach the fuel silos, well aware of the leaking-gas stench in the air and the small glossy puddles in the dents and dips of the floor.
Jace leads the way into the chamber holding the fuel silos. Nothing jumps you immediately, but you decide against lowering your guard.
Jace points to a control console. Perhaps the fuel can be drained off into another area of the hulk? You shake your head. Doing so would only flood another area and spread the risk of a FAE detonation, or even detonate it as it came into contact with an ignition source elsewhere. Jace shakes his head, and gestures to the air vents around you. Disperse the fumes? If you could get them to cycle out to the void, that might not be a bad idea. You would have to deal with operating in vacuum, but you would be able to shoot again. You nod for Jace to go ahead.
Everyone stays close to Jace as he starts investigating the vent controls. "Ok, I can vent the local atmosphere to the void, but that will leave us on a short timer to get out of here. It will also likely irritate every Ghilliam in the immediate vicinity, and they can probably handle the void better than we can."
Yasha shakes her head. "I may be able to help. You will all need to stay close and keep the Gilliam off of me so I can concentrate."
You look at Jace. "How long after you start the venting will we be able to use our guns?"
"Perhaps thirty seconds. We will need to go back down the corridor we came from and activate the emergency hatch to seal this chamber off behind us and begin to regain a breathable atmosphere."
¡°If that hatch doesn''t close in front of us. Any idea how many Gilliam are left in this nest? Perhaps it would be easier to clear them by hand and then activate the vents on a timer of some sort?"
Mu''randa consults a portable sensor array which has been responsible for tipping you off to Gilliam ambushes so far. "According to this, eight. All within twenty meters of this chamber... and headed this way."
That is about all the warning you get before the first one hurls itself out of the shadows at you. You meet is charge with Serpentsbreath''s unpowered point and skewer its misshapen head.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Yasha deflects the charge of a second one, and sends it to the ground with a blow to the ankle.
Mu''randa goes down with a third on top of her. Her dagger takes it in the chest, but it does leave a deep cut along her cheek before it expires.
Jace hammers the fourth into the deckplates hard enough to leave a dent in the metal.
You have a brief moment to wonder if a stray hit could strike a spark before the fifth Gilliam tries to take you unawares. You manage to parry its clumsy lunge, but are too busy defending yourself to strike back.
The sixth one goes for Jace, who takes its raking attack across the chest. His robe tears away to reveal the metal plates embedded in his torso.
Number seven goes for Mu''randa, still buried beneath the dead body. It throws its fallen companion''s corpse aside, taking the dagger with it.
The eighth goes for Yasha, who deftly ducks is headlong rush, tripping it into the one she tripped earlier.
You finally get an opening, and take the head of your Gilliam off its shoulders.
Yasha thumps the Gilliam off of Mu''randa before it gets a chance to inflict any more damage.
Mu''randa gets back to her feet and snags a pointed lump of rusted metal to use as a shiv.
Jace crushes his opponent with a massive horizontal swing.
The two tripped Gilliam untangle themselves and get back on their feet again.
The third surviving Gilliam charges Yasha, who promptly bounced her staff off of its skull, leaving quite the dent. It goes down with barely a twitch.
You step to place yourself between Mu''randa and the remaining Gilliam, rather than charging into a two-on one fight.
Yasha takes a deep breath, and you can feel the air about you heat up slightly. The two Gilliam quite literally freeze in place.
Jace promptly renders them into Gilliam-cubes with two quick swings of his combi-tool.
With the excitement over, you try to tend to Mu''randa. The best you can do is tear a strip of cloth from your clothing and bind it over the wound. She will need some medical attention when you get back to the Beachhead.
Yasha sags, leaning against her staff in her exhaustion. Unleashing her power like that really takes it out of her.
Jace works the console doggedly, ignoring his torn robe and the scratches in his torso plating. "I''m setting the timer for three minutes. We should be well clear of here by then."
"Right. Yasha, Mu''randa, you good to go or do you need help?"
Yasha stands up a tad straighter. "I''ll be good in a moment. Just need to catch my breath."
"Mu''randa?"
"All but blind in one eye because of the bandage and a tad woozy."
"Lean on my shoulder and I help you. Jace, start that timer and lets move out."
Your group makes it back to the Beachhead safely. You get Mu''randa to the Medics for proper tending and Yasha to bed to rest up before checking off the fuel silos as cleared and without atmosphere.
The list of secondary objectives hasn''t grown any longer despite how long it took you to clear the fuel silos. Instead, there is a note for you from the Force Commander.
"Shipmaster Von Sebastion, we have most of the Malignus Maximus mapped out, and I''m diverting more teams to clearing secondary objectives. Whichever one you don''t clear will be picked up as a spare by another team. After that, we will need to discuss a finding deep within the core of the Malignus Maximus that will need to be dealt with by more than an individual squad."
-- Force Commander Tarian Ddu
1) Recovery: Secure a possible archeotech cache.
Scout''s notes: Objective bypassed due to medical conditions and ammunition shortage. Area not investigated thoroughly.
Addendum: Objective located inside a Tenebro Maze. Advise patience, persistence, and good mapping.
Addendum Secundus: Tenebro Maze approximately 75 percent mapped. Likely route to objective located.
2) Reconnaissance: Unusual ship hull signature.
Scout''s notes: Scans indicate a hull of non-imperial construction six decks down and two ship-hulls outside of mapped areas. Hull is non-ferric, but also non-organic in nature.
Addendum: Hull likely of Eldar construction: advise Psykers and Librarians to use their Powers with caution.
Chapter 96: Old Fiends
You wake, stretch, drink your breakfast(?) tea, and check in on Mu''randa. You''ve lost track of the day/night cycle and even what day it is after so long without seeing the stars. She is awake as well, the cut above her eye already scabbed over and stitched shut. You offer to let her rest and heal, taking some guardsmen in her place, but she refuses.
"It''s just a flesh wound, it¡¯s already sealed over and I''ve got a bandage to put on it. Face it Tristan, you aren''t going without me."
You raise an eyebrow as she uses your first name to address you for the first time ever. "I commend your loyalty, but there is no need for you to risk yourself needlessly on my account."
"Bullshit."
"Eh?"
"I said ''bullshit'' Tristan. There is no logical reason for you to be here either. You have people you hired specifically to do stuff like this. The Deathwatch and the Ordo Xenos is incomparably better trained and equipped for this than we could ever be. But here you are anyway, unable to sit on the sidelines and do nothing. So here I am, making sure that you come back in one piece. Because you are a better boss than any I''ve worked for before. Because you are a better individual than many I''ve known. Because, dammit, you actually give a crap about your people and show loyalty to them. Morrigan was headed over the deep end into a shambling wreck. You got her the long-term help she needed, set up an entire trade-post on her home world, and stationed here there so she could be at home for all of it."
"You know full well that''s not the only reason I set up the Dagda Offices..."
"So? Don''t try and tell me that her condition didn''t play a role in it. Vir, Yasha, Jace, Dasidas. Every one of them had ghosts, specters of the past that they couldn''t erase on there own. You haven''t always been down on the underdecks, taking the pulse of the crew, but you care and it shows. I may be a newcomer, but I asked around before I offered to join your crew.
"Vir went from a scared, used, and abused kid to a loving husband and father. Jace was a plodder, unwilling to take too many risks and with no self confidence to speak of, and yet here he is, issuing orders to the very Magos that drove him to request a transfer in the first place with total confidence. Dasidas came aboard half-way into the bottle and drinking his way on down to forget the things he saw and the night-terrors that plagued him. Now he''s commanding a full regiment with panache and style, kicking ass and taking names in a space hulk hard enough that even the Deathwatch are according him respect. And Yasha? She isn''t hiding in her room or in the Navigatior''s Vestibule any more, is interacting with other people on a regular basis, and is off her sleeping meds and mood-fixers.
"And it''s all because of you." Mu''randa jabs a finger into your chest. "So if you are going to stick your fool neck out where it doesn''t belong and lead from the front, then I''m going to cover your ass and bring you back home alive."
You stand speechless, your brain running in overdrive as you think back over past events. Morrigan and Vir standing up for themselves and tearing the old House Saurlance to pieces. Dasidas jogging past you in the hallway, leading his officers by example and getting himself back into shape at the same time. Jace straightening his back and squaring his shoulders when you confirmed his command of the Terra Incarnadine, a just reward for all of the hard work he but into her. All of your talks with Yasha. The fact that the two of you are all but married, excepting the paperwork and ceremony, even after you had to kill her mother back when you were salvaging the Aegis. You shake your head. This is shaping up to be a wake-cycle of realizations and revelations, and you haven''t even left the Beachhead. "Alright then, who am I to argue with that. But put a helmet on this time perhaps?"You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Mu''randa gives you a crooked grin. "Yes Sir!"
You shake your head and wander off to gather the rest of your team.
Ten Minutes Later¡
Your team is gathered around a portable holotable, studying the scant data available on the ship-hulk in question. Without even looking at the hull composition, you can tell its not imperial. It has an arrow-head bridge perched atop the shorn-off stub of a massive weapon of some sort. Everything back of the bridge, including the engines, is just gone; either shot away before the craft smashed into the space hulk or torn off by a subsequent crash.
You get the sneaking suspicion that the ship was of Eldar origin. But with it being so smashed up, there is no way to be sure. You also remember that their ships were made out of some sort of psionically crystallized bone, but that should turn up as an organic or post-organic on a scanner. And the scan tech''s notes indicate that the hulk in question is non-organic and non-ferric. When you ask Jace what non-ferric means, he responds that it means the ship isn''t made out of iron or steel. Even Imperial ships, with their massive adamantium armor plating, have iron in their bones. But that is all you can tell from here. It¡¯s time to hit the proverbial road and go see what the ship is made of in person.
Four Hours Later...
You pathway isn''t well mapped-out, but you are cutting through areas that are already flagged as minimal threat / minimal hazard after the Deathwatch sent a few scouts through the area. Which is why this ship got pushed to the secondary objectives list instead of the primary. Well, that and the Deathwatch are clearly getting ready for a major push into the heart of the station at or after whatever they found there. But all such musings quickly vanish from your mind as you get you first eyes-on look at the ship-hulk in question.
By chance or by fate, it had partially crashed into an escort bay: a rare landing bay variant intended to shuttle Destroyers or System Defense Monitors around inside the hold of a mothership. What this means is that you first glance is of the top two-thirds of the arrowhead bridge form a range of about three hundred meters. The bulges of several weapons-blisters are evident, as is the ivory-chrome coloration of the hull. Already you can go ahead and report that the hull is definitely of Eldar origin, but the coloration looks wrong somehow, even form three hundred meters away. Closer investigation is warranted, cautiously of course.
You close the distance to about fifty meters before the reason for the coloration becomes apparent. The base hull is ivory-bone in coloration, with flecks of sky blue paintwork still attached here and there. The chrome comes from something metallic that looks like it grew into the structure of the ship, though you have no idea what it is. You have a sneaking suspicion that you have seen something similar before. Something about Kamas'' weapons perhaps?
Your instincts are divided at this point. One one hand, you want to push forwards and find out more, and damn the danger. On the other, you have enough data to report back and get this hulk kicked pack to the primary objective list.
Chapter 97: Crashed Party
You speak aloud for the first time in six or seven minutes. "I think we need to investigate this ship closer, but there is no point in taking anyone not familiar with the Eldar. Which means myself and Yasha. Mu''randa, Jace, I don''t like leaving you behind, as we will probably lose communications if we get too separated, but someone needs to survive if everything goes to hell. Mu''randa, don''t even think about arguing. Your knowledge on the Eldar may be better than mine or Yasha''s but I can speak their tongue, at least the rudiments of it, and Yasha is the only psyker we have here."
Jace doesn''t react, but you just know he filed those facts away for future reference if needed.
Mu''randa sighs. "Can''t really argue with you there Sir. We''ll be here if you call."
You nod your thanks, and approach the ship with Yasha. You can¡¯t help but to voice a question aloud."Is it just me or are you getting the feeling that we''re about to meet two old friends?"
"It¡¯s just you"
"I was afraid of that."
You approach what looks to be a hatch. Well, it at least has the outlines of a hatch or doorway, but there is no evident hardware,. You scratch you head, and begin feeling around for a seam to start trying to force the hatch open.
Yasha defaults to thinking aloud, trying to get you to brainstorm with her. "If this ship belongs to who you think it belongs to then the hatch is probably psychically activated."
You oblige her, not slowing your search. "Ariavari may be a psyker, but I don''t think Anai is, so the door should have a mechanical means to open."
"If it is the two of them, then we should be getting out of here post haste. Every time either of them has been involved, you have lost far more than you gained."
You continue feeling about, dropping to squat down as you check the bottom of the hatch. "Well, let''s walk that through. We met Anai first, though we didn''t know it at the time. She was bound into the Terra Incarnadine at the time, and you spoke to her.
"Then I met Ariavari on Vrenna, where I called down the orbital strike that cost my eye. That episode also locked in a tacit bond with the Deathwatch, a not inconsequential power for all of their secrecy.
"The next contact was indirect, a warning passed from Ariavari letting me know that Danus was going to be poking his nose into our affairs. Passing that warning on to Lord Pyrus also deepened our ties to the Deathwatch, and may have had something to do with their eventual recruitment of Danus.
"Then Ariavari healed you after Kamas blew your guts out past your spine. She didn''t have to, but she did anyway, risking Emperor knows what in the attempt. Discovery for sure, as well as giving away the fact that she could sneak aboard the Aegis at any time she wished.
"And they both helped when Kamas infiltrated the Terra Incarnadine. Ariavari did something to free Anai, just before we showed up. Again, she revealed that she could slip onboard the Terra Incarnadine with no one detecting her, despite the presence of Lord Pyrus and the Dark Angels. Then she knocked us out by showing us a vision and a warning. It showed just how much she and Anai were bonded to each other, the danger of that Shard, and gave her a way of getting away that left us not under suspicion of ''cavorting with the enemy''. Then Anai gave us the Brass Scarabs at the end of that episode. And again, we found ourselves bound ever closer to the Deathwatch.
"The pair of them may have been playing us for their own ends, but you have to admit that we have done well in the bargain, despite the damage."
Yasha stood and chewed on that for a while, her eyes glazed over in a thousand-yard stare as she replayed the events in her mind. "You may have something. but I think Ariavari was playing more than just us. Why did the one Deathwatch team and Ordo Xenos Inquisitor who might be willing to form a partnership of sorts with us just happen to cross our path so many times?"
You pause in your investigations and frown. "You may be onto something there. Ariavari did have me pass a message on to Lord Pyrus. Something about a debt repaid, if I recall correctly."
Yasha Shakes her head. "She is playing all of us for her own ends. Like my mother before her death, and Matron Saurlance before Vir, Morrigan, and Zheeves tore her apart."
"Perhaps. Scratch that, definitely. But I see two things in her favor. One: all of her pawns and cat''s paws gained in the bargain. Even Adam, despite his blind hatred causing his downfall. And two: Ariavari was playing for the highest stakes: her lover. So If she is here, then perhaps she knows more about the Malignus Maximus."
At that point you fall over onto your butt as the hatch irises open in front of your eyes. No one is standing on the other side. Small spurs of that chromed-metal hold smaller gemstones, glowing with a soft blue inner light, dimly illuminate the corridor in front of you. A particular one glows a slightly brighter green instead, just by a shadowed archway that may just be a door. You climb to your feet. "I think we just got an invitation."
Yasha snorts. "You think? and how are we to know where to go without a guide?"A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"See that green light? I think we are supposed to turn there."
Yasha cocks he head slightly, her black eyes squinting in the dim light. "I think your eyes may be better than mine in certain respects."
You can''t help but double over laughing. "You? Who sees more clearly that I ever could? Ah well, follow me then my lady."
You lead the way into the crashed ship, turning where the green light indicates. As you suspected, another one glows a short distance away by another doorway. You turn there and are greeted by a set of homely living quarters. What looks like a fur is draped across another archway, blocking what you presume to be a bedroom from view. There are the usual clutter of table and chairs, desk and datacrystals, a kitchen half-visible through another archway. All of it in the same bone-and-chrome, excepting the fabrics and gems. But everything is slightly off, ever so slightly out of place. "Yasha, lend me your insight here. Something is off but I can''t put my finger on it."
Yasha cocks an eyebrow, but looks about the room. "You are right. It''s almost like a hastily set stage, everything almost in its place."
"Or if this place was searched thoroughly, then put back together quickly. Someone else has been here before us."
Yasha lowers her eyebrow. "Not. Good. Alright, room by room. Look for things left behind or things taken. We don''t know what is supposed to be here, so I guess we look for holes. Empty drawers, vacant mounting brackets, something that is more out of place then its fellows."
You take a moment to let Mu''randa and Jace know what''s going on, and then you take your time searching. The main room takes a good half-hour, and you find only a shortage of datacrystals in or near the desk. The ones on its top are the only ones present, despite the two shallow drawers that are padded and notched to hold more. The kitchen takes less time, but all of the cupboards are empty, the cooking surface is dusty, and one of the lights has a thin severed wire dangling from it, probably the remains of a voice-thief listening device. You re-join Yasha in the main room before carefully checking over the fur drape for traps.
Yasha just stares at it. "This is out of place."
You stand back and consider it. "Yes... none of the other doorways were barred, except for the outer hatch. And we saw no mechanism to open it or close it again."
Yasha shakes her head. "Simpler than that. Why use a heavy fur to cover a doorway? A simple door or hatch works best if you want a solid barrier, while a curtain is light, corded, or both. That fur is heavy and solid, but doesn''t do nearly as good a job of blocking the doorway as wood or metal. Or the bone-and-chrome stuff this ship is made of. That fur was placed there."
You stare at it for a moment longer. "It''s a marker, meant to draw attention. And its not out of place the way the rest of this room is. Not moved and then put back. I''m thinking Ariavari and Anai left, someone searched their place taking the datacrystals and leaving a voice-thief behind in the kitchen. Ariavari and Anai came back, discovered what had been done, cut the voice-thief in the kitchen, and set something up in the bedroom. Which means that they left something for us to find in there."
Yasha''s eyebrows raise at this last assertion. "Left it for us? What makes you say that?"
You shake your head. "I don''t know. But that door opened only after we had been there for a while. The lights guided us right too the only furnished room in the ship. And Anai and Ariavari, presumably, came back and set all of this up. Only thing for it is to open the door as see what they left for us."
Yasha nods, pulls the drape aside, and stops dead in her tracks. "Well, I didn''t expect that!"
You look past her and let out a low whistle of appreciation. "Whoo-eee. They don''t do things by halves."
The room is definitely a bedroom, stripped of all furniture, trappings, and decorations with the exception of the bed. It isn''t like any you have seen before: a platform of that bone-and-chrome material easily wide enough to hold two people with room to spare. In speculation, you glance at the fur curtain. It''s about the right size to cover most of the bed, but your eye is drawn back to the few items that are sitting on the bed.
The chrome forms a circle at the exact center of the bed. Inside of it sits a square cloth of pure white. On the cloth sits a trio jewelry cases just big enough to hold a ring. tucked between two of the cases is a single slip of parchment. Yasha plucks the parchment up and tries to read what is on it, then shrugs and hands it to you.
You glance down and see the curving shapes of Eldar runes. Not many of them, but enough to make you groan. "Dammit, this is going to take hours to make sure I have it translated properly. Hours we don''t have."
Yasha shrugs. "Take a stab at it? Even if you don''t get it right, we should have a better idea of who this gift is intended for."
You shrug and stare at the runes again. "Alright, I''m getting perhaps one rune in three without the pseudo-dictionary I had to make, and all of these are context sensitive. At the same time, this looks like a lot simpler construction then some of the other scraps I''ve had to work with. Here goes. ''joy/greeting Wanderer. Something something gift given to someone, someone, and self. Sadness at inability something something. Singer/song changer/changed and older/oldest something.''"
Yasha shakes her head. "Ok, that confused the hell out of me. What can you make of it?"
You put the note in you pocket. "Best guess? Ariavari and Anai left these as a gift for someone, and probably intended me to find it. Ariavari has called me ''Wanderer'' multiple times in the past. In fact, I think that is all she ever called me."
Yasha scoops all three boxes up in the cloth and puts them in a belt pouch. "We take them back, you translate that message, and we figure out who to give them to. In the meantime, I think our report had better be a little short on the details. Ship found, Eldar in origin, but construction we haven''t seen before. That''s not saying much, given that we haven''t seen an Eldar ship up close before. Ship abandoned, though there were indications that it had been occupied post-crash by something sentient and probably sane, given that the habitation looked neat and organized. No food, water, or weapons present, so whatever was there is long-gone and not coming back. Flag it for further investigation after whatever is in the center of the hulk is cleared out."
"That sounds good to me. Let''s gather up the others and head back."
You do just that, and spend a few more minutes writing up your report before heading back to your room. There you pull out the parchment and stare at it for a long moment. You pseudo-dictionary is in the trunk that got brought over with your effects in the fourth or fifth wave of landings along with all of the other supplies. You could stay up late translating the message, but you would feel dog-tired during tomorrow''s excursion to the core of the Malignus Maximus.
Chapter 98: Belly of the Beast
You decide that getting a good night''s sleep is of higher importance. The note, and boxes, can wait until the Malignus Maximus is dealt with. So you tuck the parchment note away, turn off your lights, and turn in for the night.
The next day you can tell something big is going down as you and your team approach the briefing area. Force Commander Tarian Ddu has twenty of his Marines with him near the briefing table, along with Mabis and his squad of armsmen, and Inquisitor Olaf. You make the proper quiet greetings and eye the hologram of the Malignus Maximus, looking for changes or new data that would explain the high number of Marines.
Jace spots it first, no doubt because of his experience looking at similar holograms while designing or constructing ships. He starts to speak, but you nod as you spot it too.
"That''s one big power signature in the core."
Jace nods again. "Fusion reactor, plasma re-circulation design. Too big to mount in any starship, just about right for a large defense platform. No starfort, but not too much smaller."This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
You let out a low whistle. "And it¡¯s still active."
You tune into what the Force Commander is saying. "... plant isn''t just providing power, it¡¯s also providing the life-giving heat to whatever creatures are dwelling aboard the Malignus Maximus. The Hullgasts and Gilliam can tolerate a good deal more cold than almost anything else we could reasonably expect, but the missing firearms and claw-footed foes would indicate that at least one other threat is present.
"And thanks to the work of our scouting parties, we have confirmation of that threat. Genestealers, including hybrid cultists. Fortunately, no one from the expedition has been infested so far, though we do plan on conducting comprehensive genetic screening before we allow anyone, including Deathwatch Marines, off of the Malignus Maximus.
"Which brings us to Operation Danio. The Adeptus Mechanicus would dearly like to study that reactor, as well as salvage as much archeotech and ships as they can from this hulk. They can only do that if the hulk is purged of all hostiles, the bulk of which live near that power core. The Deathwatch will be taking point once again, followed up by the House Von Sebastion Armsmen. Mechanicus and Ordo Xenos teams will comprise the third wave, securing the areas behind the spearhead. Questions?"
You leave Mabis to ask any questions he deems needed, as you know he is far more proficient than you will ever be in large-scale military operations. Instead, you are left wondering at a pair of loose ends, and you have the time to investigate one of them.
Chapter 99: Missives and Motives
You have your team stand down until wave three is getting ready to move up and retire to your quarters. That note is irritating you, and you sit down with your pseudo-dictionary and get to work on it. The first thing you do is transcribe the runes onto a clean sheet of plaspaper, well spread out so that you can make notes between them. After triple-checking your transcription, you tuck the parchment original away, just in case. The next step is to lay out what you thought it says without checking your reference materials, as a way to help learn the language just that little bit more. The first and last lines jump out at you as a salutation and signature respectively. You make some marks, separating those runes from their fellows.
''joy/greeting Wanderer.
Something something gift given to someone, someone, and self. Sadness at inability something something.
Singer/song changer/changed and older/oldest something.''
This also cleans off some of the possible contextual references. With the first line only being two runes long, and taking the second to be ''Wanderer'', which is what Ariavari referred to you as, then you now have:
''(joyful?) Greetings Wanderer.
Something something gift given to someone, someone, and self. Sadness at inability something something.
Singer/song changer/changed and older/oldest something.''
You skip to the last line and consider it. Five runes, grouped in a two-one-two pattern. You flip open your pseudo-dictionary to the conjunctions section on a hunch and reference the single rune. ''And'', most certainly, which makes the other two pairs of runes to be names. Pseudonyms almost certainly, as most Eldar names that you have read (a tiny handful) tend to be single elaborate runes. Perhaps these are simplified names? You start on the first pair, checking your pseudo-dictionary and looking at literal translations first. ''Song (parts of)'' and ''change / changer / changing''. This causes you to sit back and think over your previous meetings with Ariavari. When you conversed, it was always in low gothic, the common language of the Imperium. Perhaps she had translated and stylized her name when she introduced herself? An aria is a part of a song, and -vari might mean ''various'' or ''changer''. It''s a bit of a stretch, but not implausible with a bit of poetic license. If so, perhaps she signed this note with the re-translated version of her name so that you might have a chance of recognizing it? You pencil it in and check over your work.
''(joyful?) Greetings Wanderer.
Something something gift given to someone, someone, and self. Sadness at inability something something.
Ariavari (lit. changer of song parts) and older/oldest something.''
You then start looking for the translation of the last rune in the last line. ''Older/oldest'' clearly refers to whatever the rune means, and it probably refers to Anai, which means that ''Anai'' is definitely a modernized, abbreviated and/or translated version of her actual name, probably so you could actually pronounce it. Which would make this rune-combination more descriptive of Anai''s name or nature than being a literal rendition of her actual name. You heart jumps into your throat as you find the unknown rune. ''War-soul.'' Well, given Anai was clearly a combatant that you didn''t want to mess with the one and only time you saw her in action, that might be apt. You pencil it in and look over your work so far.
''(joyful?) Greetings Wanderer.
Something something gift given to someone, someone, and self. Sadness at inability something something.
Ariavari (lit. changer of song parts) and Old(-er? -est?) War-soul (Anai?)''
Now for the body of the missive. It looks to be two sentences, but could reference material that came before it in the note, so you start with the first sentence. Two of the runes are the complex name- or title-form ones, similar to ''Wanderer'', but it¡¯s the rune that is rather close to ''self'' that draws your attention. On a hunch, you check the ''modifiers'' section of your pseudo-dictionary, and find the matching add-on marks for you/your, which would make the rune translate as ''yourself''. That''s a rather low gothic construction, which would indicate that Ariavari intended to make this note as easy to translate and comprehend as possible for someone with a low-level grasp of the Eldar language like yourself. You turn back to the other two name/title-form runes and start looking them up, as they will almost certainly not be modified by other parts of the note. The first one works out to ''Starseer'', and the second to ''Bluetoung''. You shrug, pencil them in, and start looking for the first two runes from the sentence. You find them in short order, add them in, and look over your work yet again.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
''(joyful?) Greetings Wanderer.
Pray/Please accept/take (the) gift (we?) give to Starseer, Bluetoung, and yourself. Sadness at inability something something.
Ariavari (lit. changer of song parts) and Old(-er? -est?) War-soul (Anai?)''
That only leave one sentence left, and you think you have it half-translated already. You dig through your pseudo-dictionary with a will, eager to claim this scrap of knowledge. You recognize the formatting of the note now, a simple ''sorry we couldn''t make it'' apology. Your effort bears this out, and you look down at your handiwork.
''(joyful?) Greetings Wanderer.
Pray/Please accept/take (the) gift (we?) give to Starseer, Bluetoung, and yourself. Sadness at inability (to?) meet (you? you all?) again.
Ariavari (lit. changer of song parts) and Old(-er? -est?) War-soul (Anai?)''
You make a clean copy of the translated version of the note, dispose of your scratchwork, put away your pseudo-dictionary, and head out to see how your team is coming. Mu''randa is snoring away, her wargear already racked neatly and ready to go. Jace is in an animated discussion with Rex, complete with waving arms and mechadendrites. If you had the slightest idea what they were discussing you might stick your nose in, but they are chiriping away at each other in Techna-Lingua. You leave them be to check in on Yasha.
You knock and Yasha bids you enter her small compartment. It''s not much bigger than yours, but you do notice the Wards etched into the metal inside and outside. Instinctively, you know they are intended to disrupt and defuse warp energies. Yasha probably doesn''t need them, but if it makes everyone else in the general vicinity feel better, then it''s a small price to pay. "I think I got the note translated properly."
Yasha raises an eyebrow, inviting you to continue without a word.
You hand her the clean copy for her to study. "Foreign language aside, it¡¯s a fairly standard combination of gift-note and ''sorry we couldn''t make it''. It did mention myself and two others by titles, so I was wondering if the boxes had any marks or indicators on them. If I had to guess, ''Starseer'' probably refers to you, but I have no idea who ''Bluetoung'' might be."
Yasha purses her lips. "Well... I did poke at the boxes some, and got a touch singed doing it. nothing to worry about. One of them opened up easy as can be, but the other two have some kind of psychic lock on them. Only going to open for the person for whom they are intended, if I had to guess. If your name is on one of the boxes, I guess we can find out by having you open one of the boxes."
Yasha leads the way to a small folding table. One box sits apart from the other two. A small burn mark mars the cheap particleboard of the tabletop, presumably where Yasha got ''scorched''. You reach a hand out for one of the boxes and pick it up. It is made of lovely red mahogany, with a simple set of thumb notches and no visible hinge. You eye the other two boxes, trying to spot a difference in them. One is a red cherry, while Yasha''s is red oak. You shrug and try the latch. It pops right open, and you gasp at the jewelry inside.
It''s a pendant on a silvery-chrome chain. But what a pendant! An intricate flattened ball of knotwork in green and white of that same ivory-bone material. Your eyes pick out dozens, hundreds, of individual threads, all woven into a breathtaking pattern. But as you trace them, it quickly becomes apparent that there are only two threads, one each of green and white, woven seamlessly into a pair of entwined never-ending loops.
Yasha lets out a low whistle and pulls out hers from beneath her robes. The knotwork pattern is the same, but the coloration is anything but. Where yours is a delicate green-and-white, Yasha''s is a bold crimson-on-heartblood. You take the pendant from the box and put it about your neck beneath your tunic. You leave the box with Yasha''s, and head off to collect Mu''randa and Jace before the third wave departs for the core of the Malignus Maximus.
Mu''randa is well-rested and eager to go, but Jace looks worried. You let Mu''randa take the lead with Yasha to check in on him. "Whats up?"
"Maybe nothing, maybe everything. Rex is less-than-happy that we''re working with the Deathwatch and the Ordo Xenos."
"You think he will cause problems?"
"Unknown. Unlikely, given how much of a stickler for the chain of command he is. Which is probably why the Ordos panics his kernel so much."
"Did you happen to ask him about the Golden Butterfly?"
"No, why?"
"The last time we saw that ship, Simo put a full broadside right through is Warp Engine. If Rex was on it..."
"Ah. Well, he showed no signs of Corruption or Mutation. On the other hand, he has loosened up some..."
"How much of that is the fact that you can now pull rank on him instead of being a subordinate to vent discontent at?"
Jace blinks in surprise. "Possible. Also possible that working within the Explorators, away from resupply and with only his own ship''s resources to call upon, has filed away some ill-machined edges."
Chapter 100: Finis
You nod to Jace. "Keep an eye on him would you? If he starts doing anything too far outside of normal, let me know in time to do something about it."
Jace ponders for a moment, and nods. "Will do. He has been poking about the Olri a bit, and we have an hour or so before we are scheduled to be called in."
You eye the ladies, and decide they are good to go on their own for the moment. At your gesture Jace leads the way to the Olri. Rex is already there, looking over her lines in awe and comparing her to the two semi-repaired stormbirds landed next to her. Jace promptly engages him in more of that twittering Technua-Lingua, leaving you to wander the immediate area.
On an impulse, you decide to duck into one of the incomplete Stormbird¡¯s passenger compartments. Big enough to hold an entire platoon with ease, even accounting for all of the volume taken up by the weapons systems, the chamber is illuminated by a work-light. You cast your eyes over the abandoned tools with disdain. It is a poor workman indeed to leave his or her tools out in the elements like this. Your thoughts are interrupted by the screech of metal tearing. It takes your brain all of six or seven seconds to identify the sound.
The screams and gunshots are already echoing around the beachhead by the time you clear the stormbird.
You bypass Jace and Rex, still wondering what the hell could have avoided all of the patrols and ambushed or bypassed the pickets and done so in large numbers. Jace already has his hellgun out and ready, with Rex diving into Olri, presumably to get her heavy bolter turrets online. "Start rallying who you can!" you yell to Jace in passing, running off towards where you last saw Mu''randa and Yasha.
You all but collide with them coming around a corner. "What in the Warp is attacking us?"
Mu''randa pulls Yasha to her feet roughly. "Genestealers. Came out of the ductwork right behind a wave of cultist fodder. The outer pickets are going or gone, if the combat chatter is anything to go by."
"Fuck. Head for the Olri, I''m going to try for the communications hub."
Yasha heads off, and Mu''randa pulls at your sleeve. "No point. The antennas were shot away in the opening moments of the fight. No way to punch a signal out of this."
You turn on your heel and quickly head for Olri. "Perhaps and perhaps not. We still have all of the communications kit aboard the shuttles."
All four of Olri''s heavy bolter turrets open up. The angles are poor, given the other landing craft and the turrets positioning, but they are making work on the most obvious approaches.
You pull out your pulse pistol and neatly decapitate a cultist trying to drop down on Olri from the overhanging gantry. Bad as her position may be, attempting to move her would be worse. She would be a floating target in the air, and you don''t have a better position to land her in anyway. Yasha gets into cover in the troop compartment, and Mu''randa turns to join Jace and the half-dozen armsmen and tech-guard in a defensive formation.
You duck past them and make for the communications console. Quickly you punch up the Deathwatch''s frequency and are rewarded with the faint but distinct sounds of combat chatter. "Beachhead to Deathwatch, Beachhead to Deathwatch, we are under assault. I repeat, we are under assault. Genestealers and cultists in large numbers."
"Understood Beachhead. We are breaching their main nesting area now. Hold your ground. Rubicon, clear."
Promptly several things come together in your mind. One: the deathwatch strike force must have taken at least some casualties if Rubicon is in charge. Two: the Genestealers will either have to pull back and defend their nesting area if they want to continue to survive on the Malignus Maximus or go all-in and try and wipe you out. Three: in either case, you need to stay alive for as long as you can.
You emerge from Olri to consult with Jace and Mu''randa. The number of survivors with your group has grown to an even thirty, and they have pushed forwards somewhat to give Olri''s turrets better firing arcs. "The Deathwatch is heavily engaged, and it sounds like the Armsmen are as well." A techpriest jogs past you into Olri. "Anyone know of a better place to bunker down? or is this the best we have?"
Rex emerges from the Olri, relieved from his gunnery position. "No other landing places to put this magnificent craft down. The other two may not be void-flight capable, but their engines work as do their weapons, and one of my tech-guard detachments is bringing more heavy bolter ammunition from one of our supply craft."You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Mu''randa nods. "Here we stand then."
You shake your head. "No. Here we rally. Once we have the needed bodies, we will need to reclaim more area to operate in, more supplies to fight with. Jace, Rex, best landing craft to secure next?"
A half-dozen tech-guard arrive, jugging cases of ammunition. They rush into the other stormbirds, followed by a few tech-priests to get the guns operational. Rex turns in place, surveying the area. "A Mechanicus ammunition and/or food lander would be best. Closest one is seventy-five meters away, under that gantry.
Jace raises his hellgun and picks off a trio of cultists and a genestealer running along that same gantry. "Tactically unsound. We''d have foes dropping on our heads unopposed. Recommend we secure aft of the Olri first, to give good covering fire angles up into the gantries."
You nod. "Right, as soon as we have the personnel to do so, we do that, then work on securing that lander."
Over the next hour, your ranks swell to around ninety armsmen and tech-guards, plus another thirty techpriests. Jace leads the push and secures good lines of fire up into the gantries. Rex sorts the techpriests out into salvage, repair, and resupply parties. Mu''randa remains on the firing line, and Yasha keeps an ear on the ongoing fight over Olri''s communications link.
By the third hour of the firefight, your ranks have grown to over a hundred and fifty armsmen and tech-guards, despite the slow trickle of casualties. Your perimeter has expanded somewhat, encompassing the three stormbirds entirely and pouring heavy fire up into the gantries every time a genestealer or cultist shows its face.
By the fifth hour of the fight, your ranks are up to two hundred combatants and another fifty walking wounded or non-combatants running supplies, food, and water, or helping to build barricades about the seven shuttles you now hold. A few crew-served weapons are up and firing down good firing lanes with a good stockpile of ammunition to spare, courtesy of the Mechanicus supply lander you have secured.
By the ninth hour of the fight, you are starting to get worried about fatigue. Your ranks haven''t grown, but neither have they shrunk, which leaves you in the awkward position of not having quite enough warm bodies to allow your troops to stand down in rotation to eat and relieve themselves properly.
By the thirteenth hour of the fight, fatigue is definitely beginning to set in. The other pockets of resistance in the Beachhead have either been snuffed out or managed to fight their way through to you, adding a net ninety combatants to your ranks in the process. Instead of pushing your lines further forward, you opt to start cycling troops through thirty-minute stand downs, combat conditions permitting. Fortunately, the Genestealers and their cultist pawns also seem to be running short of manpower. Or, as your instincts continue to insist, are conserving it for a coordinated push.
By the fourteenth hour of the fight, you get your first instance of really good news. The Deathwatch have hammered the main nest hard enough to break it open. They should have everything wrapped up and be back at the beachhead in another six hours.
By the fifteenth hour, your instincts are proven right as the Genestealers throw their heaviest push yet. The fire up into the gantries looks thick enough to walk across, and every single one of your fire lanes is choked with dead or dying cultists. You burn through the last of your pulse pistol ammunition, exhaust your grenades and two full sets of resupplies, and have to resupply your laspistol three times in the process of holding the line.
By the eighteenth hour, the Genestealers are clearly on their last reserves of manpower, and so are you. Resupplying your laspistol and grenades yet again, you''ve lost track of just how many times, you finally get a headcount. You are down to one hundred and fifty effectives, another thirty walking wounded, and no non-combatants. They have all either taken up a weapon or perished. Your lines have shrunk down to back around the three stormbirds, and your heavy weapons are running low on ammunition without ready resupply available. Fatigue is a serious concern.
By the nineteenth hour, you can hear the Deathwatch and Mabis'' Armsmen returning in force. What is left of the genestealers are caught between their hammer and your anvil.
The twentieth, and last, hour of the fight is a close and bloody affair. Everyone, friend and foe alike, is running low or out of ammunition, being forced back onto melee weapons. The cultists are naught more than mobile meat-shields with their ranged weapons spent, but the few remaining genestealers are in their prime without overwhelming firepower to oppose them. By the time the Deathwatch and Mabis link up with your depleted forces you were down to thirty combat effective bodies, all of them wounded, and another fourteen crippled. Yasha, Jace, Rex, and Mu''randa are all still somehow on their feet.
Mabis has fared little better, having taken forty-four percent fatalities and another twenty-seven percent casualties. Rubicon commands the remaining nine Deathwatch marines, including Danus and Lord Pyrus. Direwolf is alive, but is almost certainly going to be forced to retire from front line combat, given that he will need several months and several rounds of reconstructive surgery to even walk again. Of Force Commander Tarian Ddu, only his head was recoverable. The rest of him was lost to a cultist missile launcher fired from ambush.
All that is left for the Malignus Maximus is a few mopping-up operations and the gene-scanning of all of the survivors. You are content to let that happen without your direct involvement, and head for your bed and a well-deserved rest.
Chapter 101: Epilogue
Two Years Later¡
You sit on a porch of your Dagda estate and look out across the lawn at the wild woodlands beyond. You pass your hand over the Brass Scarab at the base of your throat and brush it across the green-and-white amulet. All you can do now is worry and wait. You glance again at the watch on your wrist. You should have gotten a call from the medical wing by now. You''d be in the delivery room yourself, but Doctor Spirabils wouldn''t hear of it, given how difficult to sterilize your augmetic leg is. Your microbead chirps with an incoming message, the one you have been expecting for the past sixteen hours.
"Tristan here, go ahead."
"It''s twins Sir. A boy and a girl. Come on down to the observation room."
You all but leap from your chair in your haste.
You meet Yasha and your wife Mu''randa in the observation room. You smile at them. The three of you are still lovers, despite the legal and social barricades preventing you from marrying the both of them. You exchange only smiles, given how tired Mu''randa must feel. You hug them both about the shoulders, words unneeded.
Three years later¡
You and Mu''randa rest on the porch as Yasha chases Odin and Titania across the lawn. Just another glorious day on Oasis. You reach over and stroke the gold-and-tan amulet on is chrome chain about her neck. You haven''t heard from Ariavari or Anai since that day aboard the Malignus Maximus. Thinking of that hulk, you look up into the sky and can just barely pick out its bulk beyond the clouds. You doubt you could spot it, were it not for the furious pace of work and the constant flare of ship engines as they strip hulk after hulk from its crushing embrace.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
You would also be wondering what they found at it''s core had not Inquisitor Olaf offer you and Yasha a most impressive insight and gift. What they found was an abandoned Imperial Cloning facility. What he offered the two of you was to use that facility to produce an heir of your bodies. Faunia rests in her crib beside Mu''randa, quietly sucking on her thumb. You know ''Uncle'' Pyrus will be checking in periodically on her and you, making sure nothing else has gone crazy while he wasn''t looking.
Ethna MacWater pokes her cowled head out of the house to call you all to dinner. You rise, eager to see Vir and Morrigan again after so long away from Dagda.
Five Years Later¡
You unseal the letter from Archmagos Explorator Jace, wondering what led him to actually write something down instead of burst-transmitting it or simply calling you. The first paragraph raises your eyebrow, the second has its twin join it.
Rex wasn''t aboard the Golden Butterfly when Simo blew it to hell and gone. Instead, he had been working for a hardliner Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor. One with more paranoia than common sense. Once Rex lost the Golden Butterfly, he started asking questions very quietly, and had come out to the Riptide system to get answers for himself. What he had found there was both his first taste of life outside of the upper cloisters of a Forgeworld, and a eye-opening reality check. The past eight years has seen him get involved with Inquisitor Ironsides and wage and win a very quiet war against his former paymaster. Jace quiet wisely didn''t poke into the details, but you make a note to yourself not to piss off Olaf.
Ten Years Later¡
It''s Odin and Titania''s eighteenth birthday, and Faunia''s fifteenth. The party has been going on for quite some time, but you have an announcement to make as the desert course is cleared away.
"Ladies, Gentlemen, and Tech-priests, your attention please. This is a social event, so I won''t take you away from all of the fun you are having, or the deals that you are making, for too long." You pause as a small wave of laughter sweeps the hall. "But I did have one last gift to give to our guests of honor."
Zheeves hands you a case containing three scrolls of parchment.
"Odin, Titannia, and Faunia Von Sebastion. Being of the age of majority and Heirs to the Von Sebastion family, It is time for you to receive command of your own starships..."