(NERV Game Site – Official DAtS Offline Forums)

Number5Alive, Golddigger, BurtBacharach, CrazyCelt, Blaze, DoYouEvenLyft?, MarcoPolo, MightMakesRight, l33tpally, Bennie, SEA-TAC_Sweetie, Requiesce-in-Pace, MacD, HaveGunsWillTravel, Guardian, GunKitty, Chummer, Inquisitor, Lizard, RedFox, SemiSolidSnake, ElfMama, Not_the_Face!, Anonymous3, Anonymous4, Anonymous7, Anonymous9, AggregatorOfSorrows, M.Mollen, WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot, BigGunn, Dolcett, Starwatcher, Backlog, DarkAvariel, Knocker, Hullu_Kapteeni, GrimDark, BloodForTheBloodGod, Queen’s_Bitch, BackDat@55Up, DoYouEvenDPS?, MajorTom, Parca, and DarkAngel are in the chat.

Anonymous7: Damn, it is a helluvalot easier to get a slot running the megadungeon in the Horus system now that the Chaos Brigade has pissed off somewhere else!

DarkAngel: I heard that they were basically camping the dungeon and not letting anyone else in while their people were running it, but was it really that bad?

Chummer: Worse, actually. They had it effectively locked down until they got the money for that warship of theirs.

Anonymous3: Damn, big guilds throwing their weight around like that make me sick. Should put a size limit on them.

Bennie: Never gonna happen.

MacD: Yeah, that would basically kill the game for a lot of the high-end players, leaving just casuals. You can’t build a game for the long term on just casuals.

BackDat@55Up: Yeah, but without the casuals, the game won’t grow.

BigGunn: Dev post over on the forums said that they’d be looking for ways to ‘discourage’ that kind of thing in the future.

Knocker: Is that why the Governor in charge of Horus just got the sack?

Queen’s_Bitch: The sack? He got his ass punted out the airlock, literally!

TheDespoiler has entered the chat.

Golddigger: Looks like there were corruption charges that got filed, and the Empress is still cracking down on stuff like that, since that’s the kind of thing that led to the civil war in the first place.

DarkAvariel: Hmm. So, doing what ChaosBrigade did won’t work in the Empire any more. What about the other governments?

Number5Alive: Not likely to be a problem in the Confederacy, since they generally try to crack down on corruption more.

Digdug has entered the chat.

DoYouEvenDPS?: The Alliance is too fractured, but they aren’t likely to go for that, since anyone sitting on the dungeon might be able to get more power and/or influence than the government. Well, at least on that planet.

MacD: Probably going to be expensive as hell to try it in Consortium space, especially if you aren’t playing a Gauz. The damn space dwarves treat all outsiders like trash.

WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot: The Ihm would simply attempt to kill you for making the offer, since that would offend their honor or caste structure. Unless you’re a female Ihm with a plan for the proper exploitation and cultivation of the dungeon, don’t even bother.

TheDespoiler: Man, it is weird to come on here and see people talking about you. Is this what the Black Stars deal with all the time?

Parca: Yes.

MajorTom: Oh yeah.

HaveGunsWillTravel: Yep!

Guardian: Definitely.

Hullu_Kapteeni: Affirmative.

Bennie: I’ve been getting that picture, yes.

M.Mollen: You get used to it.

Digdug: You filthy cheater! I’ll have you know I’ve already sent individual tickets for each member of the company and for each ship lost because of you!

Chummer: Who are you?

Digdug: Leader of the Crimson Sun Company. We tried to go to that new colony that opened up, and the bastard treated us like dirt!

M.Mollen: No, you came to my planet, tried to claim my property as your own to avoid paying taxes, and threw a week long hissy fit when my people told you no. So I threw you and your company out of the system on pain of judicial enslavement. Then you came back.

Digdug: We got killed as soon as we left the system, because you wouldn’t let us use the Gateway!

M.Mollen: If you hadn’t been such a dick, then maybe you wouldn’t have gotten tossed out. And it isn’t my problem that you didn’t purchase a protection plan for an escort to the next system.

Chummer: So, you ganked them outside the system?

M.Mollen: Oh, heavens, no! That would be unethical. I simply mentioned to another party that three ships full of dumbasses would be leaving the system, and hadn’t paid me to care about what happened to them outside the system.

TheDespoiler: The Eternity of Pain’s crew enjoyed the target practice, and the fun of taking the ships.

M.Mollen: After which, quite a few members of the Crimson Sun Company respawned on Star’s Reach, where they were found in violation of their eviction orders, and sentenced to 12 months judicial enslavement.

Digdug: See! He admits it! He’s nothing but a filthy CHEATER!

GM_8675309 has joined the chat.

GM Post: Game Masters have reviewed the relevant logs of this incident, and found no instances of any player violating the terms and conditions of the EULA, or using any exploits in the game code. The cheating tickets have been closed.

GM Post: Game Masters also note that spamming support tickets for the same incident constitutes a violation of the EULA (Section 6.234.7: Harassment). Members of the Crimson Sun Company have been warned for this behavior.

Digdug: Fuck that, how can you let them get away with this shit? You fucking shill! How much is that cheater paying you to suck his cock?

GM Post: Abusive language towards GMs is not permitted. Good day.

Digdug has been banned from the chat for 1 week.

GM_8675309 has left the chat.

M.Mollen: Have I mentioned that I really can’t cheat, since the GMs watch my streams closely, since I am a streamer and part of the medical testing program?

Blaze: Hey, getting away from that, can anyone tell me what the heck is going on over by Coldana? There’s all kinds of rumors about ships going missing heading to the system, but I haven’t heard anything solid about what is happening there.

Anonymous3: I’ve been trying to figure that out, myself. We haven’t had a single ship reach us here in over a week. Usually, there’s at least four or five a day, if not more.

AggregatorOfSorrows: Pirates? Does the Consortium have a pirate problem?

Anonymous3: Well, everyplace has pirates, but even the local black-market types don’t know shit about what is going on. If it weren’t for these chats and the forums, I’d think the whole rest of the game had died.

M.Mollen: Anon, I hate to say it, but it sounds like you’re fucked.

RedFox: Yeah, it is just a question of what kind of fucked you are.

Inquisitor: You know, commerce raiding is up all over, recently, but I haven’t heard any talk of who is behind it.

M.Mollen: The unknown commerce raiders are probably X’thari. Black Star ships have spotted and destroyed at least one group of them in Confederate space.

GrimDark: So maybe the problems around Coldana are X’thari?

Guardian: Maybe. Could also be that Shadowgate decided to get expansionist all of a sudden. I don’t think anyone in the game has managed to actually get there and see what is going on in that system, have they?

SemiSolidSnake: The Gateway is blocked somehow, and somehow they manage to interdict and destroy ships coming the ‘slow’ way before they can even get into the system. Don’t ask me how the hell they do either of those things.

GunKitty: Probably have some Lost Tech.

M.Mollen: So yeah, Anon, you’re fucked. Whether it is Shadowgate or the X’thari, you’re fucked, unless the Consortium manages to scare up enough of a fleet to defend the system.

(Consortium Naval Vessel Cormac’s Hammer, Star’s Reach Gateway, Star’s Reach System)

“Transition complete. We’re now in the Star’s Reach system.”

Captain Girgroir Beryldelver nodded to his helmsman at the report. “Very well. Send the standard greeting. Let us see how these mercenaries handle the sight of a real warship.”

The CNV Cormac’s Hammer was only a light cruiser, but the superior technology the Consortium had available to it meant that it could easily go toe to toe with battlecruisers from the less advanced fleets belonging to the Terran Empire or the Confederacy. While the Consortium’s navy was smaller than the other star nations’, they didn’t need the numbers that the less advanced nations needed. Having ships that were at least two generations ahead of their rivals meant that they could save more money over time by having more advanced, more reliable ships that required fewer crewmembers and fewer maintenance cycles.

Of course, that was for dealing with other star nations. Piracy and smuggling had always been a problem. There wasn’t a single star nation that had managed to stop that completely, but the Consortium took a different tack on things, fitting their business model. Namely, they had large numbers of corvettes that were used as revenue ships and pirate hunters. It was the most efficient use of money and manpower available.

Unfortunately, that efficiency meant that they were not prepared for the sudden increase of incidents in one of the more isolated areas of the Consortium. The Grathdan Sector had been a fairly affluent sector originally, with one of the Gateways allowing for fast travel to the region, but when a group of Chimeras took over Thazdum and renamed it Shadowgate, before sealing the system off from ‘outsiders’, the entire sector had suffered a severe economic downturn. The Consortium had tried to retake Thazdum several times, but each attempt was rebuffed.

The Board of Directors had been unwilling to simply allow Shadowgate, with the fleet they must have, unrestricted access to even a backwater sector, so there was actually a fleet base in the Coldana system. However, the rise of incidents meant that the fleet base was going to have to be reinforced. And, unfortunately, that meant that those reinforcements would have to come from units primarily tasked to hunting pirates and doing other internal security tasks.

That meant that the Consortium needed to hire on mercenaries to do the work temporarily. Unfortunately, with the recent surge in piracy all through Known Space, and the Kul’tirans being thrown into disgrace, most of the mercenary groups who had the ships to do the job and could be trusted not to simply turn to piracy themselves were already engaged in other areas, either on anti-piracy patrols or as escorts for corporate ships. The rise of these Nomads in certain quarters had made things even worse, since their loyalties were always suspect.

Unfortunately, the only mercenary group that had the size and capability to do what they needed was a Nomad-owned outfit, that had been making a name for themselves. They had some decent stealth technology, but from the news he’d heard none of the rest of their tech was all that impressive. They had scored some wins, sure, but that was going up against the Imperials and pirates. Hardly a match for the Consortium Navy. And the ‘Second Battle of Nuevo Edo’? Clearly blowing the numbers out of proportion as propaganda to increase their standing, and that of their new ally.

Still, this group was large enough and influential enough that they couldn’t have just a low-level bureaucrat commission their services for anti-piracy patrols, which was why Sector Administrator Woldmane was going to try and hire these Black Stars. And a Sector Administrator didn’t just go around on civilian transports for missions like this, which is why his Hammer was here. And the sooner they left and could join the fleet looking to break through to Coldana, the better.

“Cormac’s Hammer, this is Star’s Reach System Control. You are authorized to approach the planet. Course and orbital slot included in this transmission. Deviation from either will not be tolerated.”

Captain Beryldelver frowned, and muttered to himself. “System Control? The only ships on screen are in orbit. Who the hell do these jumped up Nomads think they’re fooling?”

“Captain! A ship just appeared on sensors, dead astern. Range… one thousand kilometers!”

“WHAT?” He checked the information his sensor officer was displaying on the main screen. There was a corvette, one of the Assassin-class, according to the intelligence brief, sitting where there’d been nothing but a hole in space before. Despite himself, Beryldelver had to give that ship, the Shadowdancer, and her captain credit. Their main weapons might be crude, being the equivalent of throwing rocks at people, but the laws of physics were rather harsh on what happened when an object of a certain mass achieved relativistic speeds before striking another object. If that ship wanted his Hammer dead, they’d never know it until the ship was becoming a cloud of swiftly spreading debris.

Maybe the intelligence briefs on their technology were slightly understated? Beryldelver shook his head. No sense worrying about that, now. “Acknowledge transmission. Helm, keep to the course and orbital slot provided to us.”

Commander Kegdancer shook her head from her station next to his command chair. She spoke softly, so only he could hear. “I suppose that was the Black Star version of a ‘subtle warning’?”

“Yes, I am thinking so. To get into position like that, so soon after we entered the system, that corvette must have been lying in wait, and began maneuvering as soon as the gateway opened. Apparently, the intelligence analysts were drastically underestimating their stealth capabilities.”

He sighed, and said, “I better go and alert the Sector Administrator. I just hope she is in a good mood. She was not happy having to come all this way to speak to a mercenary leader instead of having him come to her.”

“Will they be useful to us? I mean, even if their stealth is good, that doesn’t mean anything once a fight starts.”

Beryldelver shook his head. “I wonder. But think, Commander. If Intelligence was wrong about their stealth capabilities, what else might they be wrong about?”

(Guest Quarters, CNV Cormac’s Hammer, Star’s Reach System)

Sector Administrator Yutreda Woldmane frowned as she looked at the viewscreen which the Captain had just disappeared from. She had hoped to impress these mercenaries with the sight of a Consortium warship, and help drive down the price of their aid in policing the Grathdan Sector while the Navy concentrated their efforts on breaking through whatever had happened to Coldana and relieving the forces there. But, as she watched the sensor readings in her quarters, it became clear that the Black Star Navy was just as impressive as she had heard.

Around the planet there were a few ships, including a fleet carrier, and a superdreadnought that intelligence had said some madman had converted into a mobile shipyard. There were a series of defense platforms, as well. Most of them looked to be weapons platforms, but there was what was clearly a civilian space station in orbit, and what looked like the start of an actual military space station being constructed as they watched. Other ships were already moving through the system on clearly defined routes, mostly freighters and armed merchantmen from the Alliance, Confederacy, Empire, and Imperium.

Representatives of several criminal syndicates appeared to be openly broadcasting their affiliations. She noticed two factions that were supposed to be at war with each other settled side by side in berths at the space station, without either attacking the other! Both even had their shields down and weapons offline! Even at the most dangerous dark ports, such a thing would be unheard of!

Clearly this Black Star Company had impressed upon the syndicates that behaving was in their best interests. Given the stealth abilities their ships had casually shown to the crew of the Cormac’s Hammer, that impression probably went somewhere along the lines of ‘play nice, or we kill you’, and no one knew where they were to know whether they were watching or not. And a free port outside of the known centers, with access to the Gateway network was too lucrative a deal to get excluded from for these outfits.

Oh, sure, that Nuevo Edo place was a free port, as well, but it was a planetary government, not a business. That kind of place was better for some smugglers, or freighter captains that wanted to get goods between star nations without paying tariffs or getting away from the fact that some nations didn’t like each other, on paper. They wouldn’t tolerate syndicates acting openly in their system, which is clearly something that the Black Star Company had no problem with, so long as people followed the rules.

And those rules were backed up by the Black Star Navy. The presence she saw in orbit would be enough for planetary defense against pretty much any pirate raider or ‘normal’ attack. It wouldn’t stand up to a full-scale invasion, of course. But the Assassin that had dropped cloak behind the Hammer showed that they had assets in place to ensure that an invasion through the Gateway would be doomed to fail. And an attack staging out of Nuevo Edo or the Amazon system would take at least a month to arrive at the fastest speeds warships could achieve. A month in which time the Black Stars would have plenty of time to recall their ships, or get reinforcements from one of their bases near other nodes of the Gateway network. Until the local area was explored and colonized, the Black Stars were too well-defended to take on for anyone except the X’thari to have a chance of driving them back in this system.

That fact had several implications for her mission here. The fact that the system had essentially combined the two concepts of holding a bottleneck and defense in depth to allow them to hold off any threat that might be heading their way (save the most dangerous enemies) meant that they were definitely capable of assisting her in keeping the damage from the Fleet redeploying to rescue Coldana down to a minimum. On the other hand, the military mind that could arrange for a defense of this kind would surely realize the situation the Consortium was in. The Consortium’s efficiency-based model of defense was well known in the galaxy, after all. And the Nomad information networks likely already had some reports from the Sector running across the galaxy by now.

That meant that he could play hardball with her if he wished, and there was not much she could do about it. The normal tools she might have used in negotiations wouldn’t apply here. Black Star didn’t need the Consortium’s technology, clearly. And while they had several small businesses in the consumer markets, they primarily made their money off of shipping, protection, and, now, providing a security for other parties to do business. They would not be hurting for credits, that is certain. That also meant that promise of access to Consortium markets might not sway them, either. With access to the Gateway, and the assistance of syndicates, they could likely get to any marketplace they wanted, regardless.

So, if the typical enticements to drive the price down weren’t going to work, that left trying to deal with the leader. But that was another problem. The leader now owned an entire star system outright. The idea that he would respond to a typical bribe was outrageous. And the intelligence group had quickly determined that his vices, while well known, were of absolutely no use as blackmail. The one time someone had tried, he released the information himself, with extra camera angles, and then released all the blackmailer’s personal information, and continuing with the information of their employers, as well. And his main vice, women, was something he had no problem satisfying on his own.

Political leverage was out of the question, as well. The Black Star Company had moved into multiple star nations, and had contacts at the highest levels of some of those star nations. And, even if someone forced them out of one of those nations, they still had their own star system, with access to the Gateway. And, according to Intelligence, they had at least two weapon systems that could be counted as Weapons of Mass Destruction on a planetary scale. Militarily, they would not be able to overcome the full might of a star nation if it were brought to bear, due to simple numbers, but they would make the victory costly as hell, and the nation may very well end up losing many of their most prosperous planets before the fighting was done. If the response to the pirates and other attackers was any clue, Black Star responded to any attack with utter devastation. If they were pushed into a corner? Who knew what they would do?

Woldmane sighed. This was going to be a long negotiation.

(Conference Room 3, Black Star Company Station Mollen’s Rest, Star’s Reach orbit)

Conference Room 3 was a nice, private affair, designed for no more than six people to sit at the table, if you put one at either end. This was not used for conferences with lots of important people who all wanted everyone to know how important they were. This was a room for getting shit done. Anyone who was using this room valued getting to the heart of the matter, and probably had authority to make actual decisions.

They also valued the discretion which Black Star rigorously enforced when renting this conference room out for private meetings. The room was bug free, and there was a dedicated tech team ensuring that no one listened in on the meetings inside. Of course, the tech team heard everything, but they were well paid for their silence, unless those in the room broke The Rules.

The Rules were a simple set of guidelines to be used for transactions on the station. They were mostly common-sense items, such as the one about how you could conduct arms deals on the station, but the goods needed to be stored and transferred off the station, to prevent any ‘accidents’. The same with hazardous materials and the like. There were also the rules about paying the required transaction fees to Black Star for facilitating neutral ground, and so on. The Rules also stated that security and medical would be called even to private meetings if there was cause. Essentially, unless you proved a danger to yourself, others, the station, or Black Star itself, your business was your business, so long as you paid your fees.

That may sound simple, but having a place like that, where ships could openly travel through the Gateway and instantly connect with syndicates from across the galaxy without customs or other unpleasantness was a rarity in the game universe. Most system or interstellar governments didn’t care for smuggling and the syndicates. In Star’s Reach, so long as they played nice and followed The Rules, then everything was fine.

I didn’t like playing political games, which is why I didn’t try and do the silly one-upsmanship games of making someone wait to show how busy I was. I simply got to the conference room early, and used the time I was waiting to keep going through the paperwork. Fortunately, Raven kept me apprised of the delegation’s location and estimated time of arrival. She spoils me, really, being so efficient.

The door opened, admitting two Gauz to the room, a male and female. I had always thought of the Gauz as ‘space dwarves’, and the name fit, to a point. They were a heavy gravity world species, which made them short, stocky, and built like a truck. Fortunately, that is where the similarities ended, since the females didn’t have beards, or any of that silliness.

Raven and I rose, and nodded politely to the two, shaking hands as the door closed behind them. As we sat, the female Gauz spoke first. “Thank you for your time, Mister Mollen. I am Sector Administrator Yutreda Woldmane, and this is Captain Girgoir Beryldelver of the CNV Cormac’s Hammer.”

I nodded politely to the two Gauz, and said, “I am Mirikon Mollen, as you know. If this is a business meeting, Mister will suffice. I also go by Admiral or Captain, depending on what is involved. We can talk about social situations later.” I winked roguishly at the Administrator. I had a reputation to uphold, and the playboy reputation made people overlook things, more often than not, which gave me an advantage. Motioning to my side, I said, “And this is Raven, my trusted companion. She will be taking notes and supplying figures for this meeting.”

I paused, and then said, “So, you came a long way from the Consortium, Administrator Woldmane. Now that introductions have been made, why don’t you tell me what it is you came for? I can’t imagine someone with your responsibilities came all this way just for fun, so there must be some business you wished to conduct, and you did not wish to use subordinates for it, yes?”

The Sector Administrator took a deep breath, clearly trying to get her thoughts together. I guess I threw her a bit by cutting to the chase. She looked at me, and said, “As you may know, I am the Sector Administrator for the Grathdan Sector. That sector contains the Coldana System, and surrounds the Shadowgate system.”

I nodded to show my understanding, and allowed her to continue. “As you no doubt are aware, there is an increase in raider activity throughout known space in recent fiscal quarters, which requires a certain level of fleet presence to keep those activities to manageable levels. Normally, this duty is discharged by the members of the Consortium Navy.”

“At present, there is no uptick in raider activity in the Grathdan Sector as a whole greater than the average for other sectors of the Consortium. However, the area around the Coldana System has become like a black hole, with no ships being able to enter or leave the system. Further, communications have been cut off to the system, leaving us unaware of the conditions of the system, or the fleet base stationed there. No one has been able to discover the cause of this interruption.”

I leaned back in my chair, considering the options. “I am aware of the situation in the Grathdan Sector. The Nomad communication networks to the Coldana System have not been impacted like regular networks.” I had to grin as both gauz’s eyes got wide at that mention.

They mastered themselves quickly, however, and the Administrator almost managed to keep the excitement out of her voice when she spoke. “R-really? We have had reports of this Nomad communication network, but have not been able to determine the reach of it, or how it is produced. You say that you have been able to get reports from Coldana?”

I nodded, and said, “It is not something you will be able to replicate, I am afraid. The communication network is a portion of the bridging technology that allows us to project ourselves into this world. So, the network is only as complete as the distribution of Nomads. I can, however, confirm that there is at least one Nomad on Coldana Prime at this moment.”

The Captain leaned forward now, and asked, “Can you give us any details on what is happening in the system? We’ve been cut off for just over two weeks, now, and there’s been no word in or out of the system. The Fleet Base there is one of our primary defense outposts.”

I tapped a finger to my chin, considering, before saying, “Well, as a sign of good faith, I will say that Coldana still stands, for the time being. The last reports indicate that no one knows what is going on there. Even the local syndicates are worried, now, indicating that this is more than simple piracy.”

Administrator Woldmane sighed, and said, “That is welcome news, as grim as it is.” She took a breath, and continued, “Well, since you know the situation, I can get straight to the point, it seems. The Consortium Navy intends to gather a relief force to punch their way through to Coldana, and find out the exact situation there. Depending what they find, they may try to eliminate the threat, or assist in the evacuation of the planet. However, gathering this relief force in a time frame that will allow them to come to Coldana’s aid will strip the sector bare of the ships and crews that serve as the backbone of our antipiracy measures.”

“If the pirates and raiders are allowed to gain a solid foothold while the Grathdan Sector Fleet is occupied relieving Coldana, then it will be an incredibly expensive effort to remove them from the equation at a later date. Given the cost-benefit analysis of the sector, an increase in the level of raider activity is not acceptable to long term goals. To that end, I’ve been authorized to hire mercenary ships to patrol the sector until replacements can be called up from the rest of the Consortium Navy.”

Ah, so they didn’t want Black Star to go diving in and taking on whatever had them stumped, but for us to sit on the local pirates and free up their ships to play hardball. That was a nice, simple contract, that I knew my people could handle, without too much trouble. And, given how desperate they were, I could charge a reasonable rate. Though not too much, since that would make them consider other options. Sure, it was tempting to try and bleed them dry, but that would just create bad blood, and would make it more difficult to get future deals.

“I believe we can come to an arrangement on this matter, yes. The Black Star Navy functions under the Unified Mercenary Force Accords, and they always apply those standards to suspected pirates and smugglers in their area of operations. If you would like to purchase a contract for the Black Stars to engage in an antipiracy effort while your ships are otherwise engaged, I believe you’ll find our rates quite reasonable given the current situation. Raven will provide you with a list of our offered services and price rates based on scale of involvement. If there is a financial issue causing the rates to be problematic, we are willing to be reasonable and talk about alternative payment plans.”

(Main Bridge, CNV Cormac’s Hammer, approaching Star’s Reach Gateway)

Five hours later, Captain Beryldelver breathed out a sigh from his command chair. Looking over to where Administrator Woldmane was sitting, he said, “I am honestly surprised that the negotiations happened so quickly. Most mercenary groups try to bluff and bluster more.”

Woldmane shook her head. “That is because they know that they might have a service we need, but we are in the superior bargaining position. Unfortunately, none of that applies to Black Star. Given the reports Intelligence has on the man’s temperament, going with the straightforward approach gave the best likely outcome for us. Fortunately, that proved to be true, as CEO Mollen did not try to get nearly the concessions he might have tried for. The prices he offered were above the normal rates for mercenary work of this type, but not exorbitantly so. Our sources inside the Confederacy have confirmed that he is willing to charge reasonable rates for services, but those rates increase dramatically if you get on his bad side.”

Beryldelver sighed softly, and said, “I still dislike the idea of hiring mercenaries for this. I know we can’t leave the spacelanes uncovered for the pirates, and that we need to get the relief force moving as soon as possible. It is a distasteful thing all the same, especially since it was an outside mercenary group we had to go to, instead of a Consortium-based group.”

“I understand your concerns, and the Admiral agreed to have an observer stationed with his main forces to act as a liaison and help allay fears of his forces getting undue influence in the region. That is already better than we could have hoped for, under the circumstances. The information he offered us based on the Nomad communication networks and Black Star’s own intelligence means that we, at least, have a better idea of what we’ll be sending the relief force in against.”

“True enough. I would much rather go up against the X’thari than the Shadowgaters. At least the X’thari are a somewhat known factor. It seems not even the Nomads have managed to find out what is going on around Shadowgate.”

“Indeed. Having a possible piece of the puzzle makes this situation much less unnerving.” The Administrator sighed. “How soon until we are ready to transfer?”

“The Admiral said that his ships would be ready for departure by the time we made the Gateway, but other than the launch of the Starlight Raven which is trailing us, there are no other ships on the screens. If you like, I could hail the Star—what the hell?” The cause of the Captain’s distress was immediately obvious, as, all at once, forty ships dropped their cloaking systems, coming on sensors for the Cormac’s Hammer to identify. They ranged in size from what looked like small attack craft to a fleet carrier! And there was even a marine assault ship in the mix? Captain Beryldelver was stunned, but he did notice the Starlight Raven moving to dock with what his sensors were telling him was a battleship! How did mercenaries get a battleship?

From the communication console, the young comm officer said, “Incoming text transmission from the BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, sir. Admiral Mollen gives his regards, and reports that the First Group, Black Star Navy, and First Group, Black Star Marine Corps, are ready to deploy as contracted. He respectfully asks that we lead through the Gateway, to prevent misunderstandings on the other side.”

The Captain shook his head. “Gee, I wonder what kind of ‘misunderstanding’ that fleet coming through the Gateway might cause?” He took a breath, and then said, “Acknowledge the transmission. Dial the Gateway. And be sure to send a list of ships traveling through to the other side so that the guard platforms don’t get trigger happy!”

(Cadra Primaris, Capitol Planet of Grathdan Sector, Gauz Consortium)

The Gateway closest to the Grathdan Sector was Shadowgate. Since that wasn’t an option, we’d gone through the Dagon Gate. Since we were traveling between arms of the galaxy, that cut the travel time down quite substantially. It only took a couple weeks for us to reach the edges of the sector, and the different patrol groups started splitting up and going their way.

The negotiations had been short and sweet, mostly because the Administrator didn’t have time to fool around. So, while some of the escort ships began moving around the sector making sure people knew that the spacelanes weren’t undefended, I had a core group of ship ready to drop the hammer on raiders if they gave me a target. A Battleship, a Fleet Carrier, and some destroyers, with the Marine group backing them up. That was a solid response force, should we need it.

For obvious reasons, this core part of the fleet was set up in the Cadra System, near the Sector capitol of Cadra Primaris. The Consortium was taking every ship they possibly could to deal with whatever the hell was going down over in Coldana. That included the system defenses that were usually in place to defend Cadra Primaris. Every inter-system craft with weapons was going that way. Hopefully it would be enough.

That left most of the systems in the sector covered by just a space station or two, with whatever fighters or in-system patrol boats the systems had (which were primarily used as Search and Rescue craft). I suspected that there were probably more than a couple groups inside the Consortium questioning their ‘efficiency first’ strategy to home defense.

Naturally, none of that mattered to me, for the moment. I’d already put in my two centicredits, and set things in motion. Now I just needed to stand back and let my people do what they did best. So, I was of to explore the main space station, and maybe make a few personal deals.

The first problem I had was finding a way to be inconspicuous while still being protected. See, ‘inconspicuous’ here meant that I had to look like a Gauz. Sure, there were plenty of non-Gauz, but most of them were either slaves, or traveling merchants. All of them stood out. I wasn’t sure on the exact nature of it, but it seemed that the Confederacy and the Alliance were the only groups in established space that weren’t hopped up on the whole one race ruling their piece of the universe thing, and embraced having multicultural empires. Part of that was the Alliance being a fractured mess, but while the Knelfi were the major players in the Confederacy, they did have plenty of other species living in the Confederacy, and they actually were treated the same as the Knelfi were. There were just a lot more Knelfi than, say, Felisans.

At any rate, I could change my shape to look Gauz, but my high-end gear was all sized to fit a human, or human-ish, form. The battle armor was tailored to fit my ‘normal’ look, but the rest of my outfits could fit me easily so long as I was a human, knelfi, or even a Felisan. Well, mostly. The tail sometimes got in the way. But a Gauz was about 1.25 meters tall, on average, and built like a truck. That meant there was no way my gear was going to fit, save for a couple items that, thankfully, resized.

Up until now, it hadn’t been an issue, since I always took human and knelfi forms if I had a choice. They were closer to my height, and I didn’t need to mess with the density as much to get the effect right. My skinsuit and bracers sized with me, and most of my weapons were, thankfully, designed to be used with a wide range of species, so I could still use them in a Gauz form. But going out and about in just a skinsuit was considered rude, especially in Gauz society.

Fortunately, the ship’s fabricators were able to whip something up so that I was at least able to be presentable. First stop once I got to the station would be to visit a couple stores and get clothes for this fake identity. I’d change into new clothes, and then be able to slip out and enjoy myself.

The only question was who to take with me. Bringing my whole entourage would defeat the point of sneaking out. But if I didn’t bring any guards, especially when I was off, without my usual weapons and armor, then there would be hell to pay when I got back to the ship, even if nothing happened. And if something did happen? Well, then, I would be all kinds of screwed, and not in the fun way.

I looked up as Raven stepped into my quarters just after I had finished getting dressed. Her mouth actually dropped a bit, which made me smile. She was the best choice for this, actually. “Raven, care to play hooky with me for a little while?”

Raven sighed, rubbing her forehead like I was giving her a headache. It was a nice human affectation for the former human AI to use. Idly, I wondered if she knew she was doing it, or if that was some leftover from when she’d been alive.

“All right, I get that you’re sneaking off to have fun. And I get that you wanted to blend in with the locals, so you used your powers to take a new form. What I don’t get, however, is why you’re now a Gauz female?”

I laughed, and said, “Because when people start looking for me, this will be the last form they expect me to take. Anyways, we need to go shopping and deal with getting some Gauz-sized armor and clothes. Never know when I’ll need to play a role like when we infiltrated Bagthera or Madrigal.”

“Fine, fine. I don’t want to argue.”

“Excellent! Then let’s get moving!”

(Thadmere Station, Cadra Primaris Orbit)

Clothes shopping was easy enough. I went to the first place I found and bought some clothes that were better than the printed stuff I’d gotten from the fabricators, and wore them to the next store, where I started looking for high end threads. I actually managed to find some nicely made Gauz-sized copies of the clothes I normally wore, which was nice. Of course, I found some other things that I hadn’t seen in the Empire or Confederacy.

Force Psychannel Ring

Type

Ring

Rank

Uncommon

This ring, made of a type of metal that is particularly conductive to Psy energies, and set with a crystal that resonates with Force Psy in particular, allows the wearer to increase their effective affinity with Force Psy, allowing them to better use such abilities.

+15% Force Psy Affinity

Force Psy powers cost 25% less PP to use.

This thing was pretty interesting, though there was a warning that one shouldn’t wear too many of these rings, as the conductive nature would, if present in too large a quantity, actually serve to reduce the wearer’s resistance to Psy Powers in general. Which, notably, was why rings were the only wearable items ever made of this metal. Too dangerous, as a rule, to have, say, a gauntlet out of the stuff with crystals to resonate with each kind of Psy, even if you try to build in resistances to it. That had been tried, once, and it had ended badly when someone overloaded the wearer’s resistance. The resulting feedback of energies caused a small, but very energetic, explosion that made certain no one tried such things in the future.

Psyker Rod

Type

Tool

Rank

Very Rare

This item would be considered Lost Tech if the facilities to produce it didn’t remain. Unfortunately, the exact workings of the rod remain unknown. The rod is made of a special metal that is known to conduct Psy energy, but the mechanics inside are beyond the abilities of any current craftsmen. The rod amplifies the Psy powers of the person who is attuned to it.

All Psy Mastery skills increased by +10 while holding the rod.

All Psy Affinities and Resistances +10% while holding the rod.

Now, THIS baby was special. Oh, sure, it cost almost as much as the Shadowdancer did when I first bought her, but that was a bargain for something as useful as this. It would give me some definite bonuses when I needed to deal with things without shooting them. Sure, my people didn’t let me go out and play like I used to, but there was no harm in keeping prepared, just in case. Right?

OK, I wasn’t even fooling myself. It was a shiny new toy, just like all high-end gear in games, and I wanted it for myself. Fortunately, I had plenty of money, so that wasn’t an issue. What was more of an issue was the attunement process, which required several minutes, and me bleeding on it. Not something I could do in public, so into the bracer it went, so I could try it out sometime later.

Raven sighed as she walked alongside me. “Really, Boss. You’re acting like a kid in the candy store. Why don’t you just be honest, instead of trying to ‘play hooky’ to get what you want? If you hadn’t brought me along with you, do you know how crazy people would be getting on the ship thinking you’d disappeared? At least with me here, they know where you are.”

I sighed. The sound was a little strange, coming in the gravely sound of my Gauz form. “Of course, I know how much they worry, Raven. But it wasn’t so long ago that I was just another guy, who happened to swindle a drunken idiot for a spaceship, only to find that the ship’s AI was more than I could have possibly imagined, and, oh look, now a Princess is falling into my lap, almost literally.”

Shaking my head, I looked up at Raven’s face. The height difference was a little disconcerting, but I was getting used to it. “And now, look at me. I’m the owner of a massive company with employees based in four separate star systems and doing business across Known Space. I’m the Admiral of the most advanced fleet of warships that doesn’t belong to the navy of a star nation. Is it so wrong to try and be a normal guy now and then?”

Raven shook her head. “I believe, as you would say, that ship sailed a long time ago, Boss. If you had wanted to just remain a freighter captain, instead of becoming what you are, then you should never have bought the Shadowdancer before we left Jagloth. That was what started us on that path, you remember.”

I nodded my head, but Raven continued without letting me finish. “And if you had wanted more time as ‘just a captain’, then you probably should have done something other than do your best to bankrupt the Grand Arena by fixing a fight. The money from that was so much that you had to do something with it, or people were going to get ideas about taking it from you and you wouldn’t have the protections in place to stop them. You might complain about things happening so fast, but it was your own fault, Sir.”

“Fine, fine. I shouldn’t mope about things I did to myself. But if that’s the case, then I’m still going to enjoy this shopping trip. Now, let’s hurry up, and see what kind of trouble we can get into.”

Raven simply smirked as she kept pace with me. “Sure thing, Boss.”

(Cockpit, BSN Jester, Interstellar Space)

There were few things, in Slave-Captain Simimar Craro’s mind, that were more incredibly dull and unexciting than shadowing a freighter, waiting for pirates to attack. This was especially true, he thought, when the freighter in question had no idea that they were being shadowed.

Oh, there were plenty of reasons not to tell the freighter. After all, letting civilians know that they are nothing but nice, juicy bait for pirates had an unfortunate tendency to unsettle the minds of those civilians. That led to them inevitably overselling their part or, more likely, doing something completely stupid out of fear. No, it was best to leave them in blissful ignorance.

His Jester was one of the newest gunboats in the Black Star Navy, brought into service after the Second Battle of Nuevo Edo. Sure, there were only five people on board, but the Jester could duke it out with any normal pirate raider and give far better than she got. It might not be able to go toe to toe with the likes of Shinokage, but damned if he wouldn’t put even odds on his bird against any other light cruiser that wasn’t a Black Star design.

The Alebeard Shipping Vessel True Brew was not a match for anything other than the tamest of atmospheric-only drones, if his sensors were reading correctly. Unarmed ones, at that. The freighter was big, slow, and was only armed with basic point defense weapons which were usually only used against small asteroids or the like. The shields were laughably weak against any kind of military weaponry. In short, it was the perfect bait for this operation.

Jester and her sister gunboat, Isis, were assigned to shadow this fat, hulking freighter, because raiders were an issue everywhere Black Star wasn’t, it seemed, and the Company was getting paid to crack a few heads around the Grathdan Sector while the stumpy assholes and their vaunted Consortium Navy went and dealt with some other problem. Word around the fleet was that the X’thari were probably up to something, and the stumpies were getting their asses handed to them.

Most people in Black Star were ‘locals’, as the Master called them. Made sense, since he and a bunch of the higher-ups in the Navy and the Marines were Nomads. Most locals didn’t know that much about Nomads, or what they could do. Might as well have been some silly concept like magic as anything real. To a local, Nomads were impossibilities made flesh.

Black Star locals knew better. One of the perks of being a Black Star, even as a slave, was that you learned about the Nomads, and you learned what they could do. More importantly, you could learn what they knew! That’s one of the reasons he was damn glad to have SexKitten as part of his crew.

Despite the crazy name, which she told him was some kind of joke she made when she had decided to ‘become’ a Felisan when she projected herself to this world, and later found she couldn’t change without becoming a new person, she was the best natural gunner he had ever seen. When she was on the weapon controls, whoever was on the other side of her screens was fucked, pure and simple. That was just one of the reasons he liked having her around.

Oh, sure, the fact that she basically coped with the boredom that came with deployments on a ship as small as the Jester by living up to her name didn’t hurt. And she actually had a lot of stories to tell from her adventures in other worlds. And she was one of the slaves bought off after the Legion Plague destroyed Jagloth, same as he was. Those all added to the appeal of having her on board, but they weren’t the main reason he was glad she was on his boat.

As a Nomad, SexKitten heard things. Everyone knew that the Nomads had their own information networks, part of the tech they used to project here. It was on CNN and everything, even before the Impies finished their Civil War. What most locals didn’t know, however, was that the Nomad nets had different levels to them. So SexKitten got the goods on not only stuff happening in Known Space in general, but also the inside info on company gossip!

And the gossip was always flying fast and furious surrounding the Master. Like, when the Empress of the Terran Empire basically had her top advisors tell her to get the Master to knock her up? And Princess Sheila offered to help? The news of the Master’s poleaxed expression had made it into the Black Star section of the Nomad comm nets as soon as his bodyguard/harem girl, Jaynie, could get it there, and from there it had spread throughout the Black Star forces at a speed that was significantly faster than light.

The gossip network had been immediately activated when people found out that the Master was going ‘rogue’, and trying to be a normal person for once. There were some people that thought he should stay back and stay on the command deck looking important like an Admiral was supposed to, but most everyone in the First Group comm nets were simply surprised that it had taken the Master this long to find a way to ‘play hooky’. Of course, being who he was, the Master couldn’t just skip out of sight without people noticing, so he took the Raven AI’s drone body with him. Raven kept those on the flagship in the loop, and someone leaked that information to the Black Star gossip comnets, and some of the Nomads still in Cadra had copied it to the Black Star Nomad comnet, which is how Jester and Isis were able to keep apprised of the goings on, while they dealt with boring convoy duty. Apparently, there were more than a few betting pools going around the fleet about what kind of trouble the Master would get into on the station.

“Twenty credits says that he buys a new pet for his harem.”

Simimar looked over to SexKitten, and grinned. “Oh, you think that, after so long not adding anyone to his little collection, not even a pop idol who is his personal slave and literally can’t say no, that he’ll just up and add someone because we’re in Gauz space?”

The Felisan nomad shook her head. “He hasn’t added anyone in because there’s only Humans and Knelfi around him, mostly. But a sector capitol planet here in the Consortium? They’ll probably have some ‘exotics’ to curl his toes, you know?”

Simimar laughed. “Oh, because he didn’t find ANY exotics on Dimiya, or when he visited Sol all those times. You and the Gunsmith aren’t the only Felisans in the company, you know. If he wanted something ‘exotic’, he could just call one of them up and order to bend over.”

“Nah, but they’re all part of the fleet already. Probably taken when he was busy managing other things. They’re old news, so he isn’t going to notice them. Trust me, he is going to find something new, and fuck the daylights out of it.”

“Ha! And what are you willing to bet on that? And don’t tell me something silly like twenty credits. We both know you want something with higher stakes.”

SexKitten purred. “Ooh, you do know how to get a girl’s thoughts racing, Simmy! If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had all kinds of naughty ideas in mind! Where is that famous knelfi snootiness, hmm? So, what are we wagering, then?”

Simimar grinned, and said, “Let’s open it up to everyone, shall we?”

Jester comnet public chat

SC, SexKitten, Greasemonkey, Fixit, and Miri_luvr_69 are in the chat.

SC: All right, boys and girls, and Susan.

Miri_luvr_69: Fuck you, Simmy!

SC: Hah! Anyways, we’ve got ourselves the beginning of a little wager up here in the cockpit, and, being the kind, generous sort of captain I am, I simply couldn’t deprive you all of the chance to get in on the action.

Fixit: There isn’t any Trakanian Rum involved, right?

SC: *sigh* Of course not. You all were very specific that no more wagers with Trakanian Rum were allowed.

Fixit: Good, because the last time, I woke up with Aiduin’s wrench in my ass!

Greasemonkey: Hey! At least I was nice enough to insert it from the round end, instead of the business end!

SexKitten: No, no alcohol involved in the wager. At least, not alcohol that we’d be drinking.

Miri_luvr_69: Ooh, now you have me all excited. What are we betting on, then?

SC: As you know, Kitten has been keeping us informed about the Master’s antics through the Nomad comnets, so we don’t waste company bandwidth on long-range transmissions. So, our naughty kitty who likes guns almost as much as she likes—

SexKitten: Finish that and I’ll be borrowing Aiduin’s wrench, Simmy.

Greasemonkey: HAH! You’ll have to fight Meriel for it!

Fixit: HEY! Don’t be bringing me into this!

Greasemonkey: You’re the one who complained that you needed something nice and hard, just I was going on shift!

SC: Aiduin, don’t tease the girl for having needs. Meriel, if you need a ‘hand’, then wait until you are both off shift. You know the rules, no sex at any of our action stations unless we are in port.

Fixit: Fiiiine!

Miri_lvr_69: So, what is this wager involving the Master?

SexKitten: Opening up multiple wagers, no credits, all favors or other ‘friendly’ bets. First wager is that our incredibly hot lord and Master will buy a new harem girl in the local slave market.

Miri_lvr_69: Mmm. He could take me any way he wants, any time he wants. Have you seen the holocalendar? I could climb up and down those abs all day long! And that butt!

SexKitten: I have it on good authority that the ‘full package’ is even better than what you’ve seen.

Fixit: What are we talking about, here? Size, or stamina?

SexKitten: Yes.

Miri_lvr_69: Ooh, I would just love to—

SC: Focus on the wager, girls. You can gush about how you’d love to bend over for the Master later.

SexKitten: *sigh* Fine. Wager is that the Master gets a new slave girl to fuck on the regular. Our imperious captain has decreed that betting credits just won’t do for this. So we’re betting ‘favors’.

Greasemonkey: What kind of favors?

SC: All kinds, so long as it doesn’t involve us getting written up by fleet. So, nothing that affects the ship, or our readiness while on guard duty.

Fixit: Fine. I’ll wager no new slave.

Miri_lvr_69: Definitely a new harem slave!

Greasemonkey: I’ll go with no new slave.

SexKitten: I’m wagering new slavegirl for the harem. Double or nothing he takes her before they get back to the ship!

SC: I wager that he buys a new slavegirl, but that the slave is not part of the harem.

Greasemonkey: Ooh, bold move.

Fixit: How do we determine the winner?

SexKitten: I’m hooked in to the Nomad comnet, and we’ll confirm once we join up with more of the fleet. No payoff until independent confirmation.

Greasemonkey: Agreed.

Fixit: Sounds good.

Miri_lvr_69: I’m in.

SC: Good. Now, for the next wager—

Simimar stopped typing as he saw new data show up on his sensor readings. Hitting the ship intercom instead of going through the chat, he said, “Look alive, everyone! We’ve got uninvited guests coming out to play! Tarpit just went live. We’re hitting it in six seconds. Prepare for combat!”

Black Star gunboats only had a crew of five. On paper, that translated to a captain, a pilot, a gunner, and two engineers. In reality, fleet doctrine demanded that everyone be cross-trained. Typical duty schedule had two people ‘on’, and the others off-shift at a time. But because of how small the gunboats were, and the fact that they were generally charged with jobs like this, where you got thrown into the mix suddenly, instead of having the time to get to assigned battle stations, doctrine was that whoever was closest to a position when the shit hit the fan had to be able to handle the position until someone more capable arrived, or things went even further down the tubes.

Which is why Simimar was still at the pilot’s controls when they hit the tarpit, along with Isis, the two stealthy gunships already spooling up engines, their sensors scanning for trouble. Looking over the readout, Simimar grimaced. They had expected guests, but this was a bit much!

“We have three X’thari Scout Vessels closing on the bait freighter! Signal Isis, we’re going in! Jester, emergency flash message to Ama-no-Murakumo. Tell them we have engaged a Third of X’thari Scouts.”

(BSN Jester, Interstellar Space)

Three on two was not exactly great odds. Too much could happen in a fight like that. It was far too close to a fair fight. And if there was one thing that was absolute doctrine in the Black Star Navy it was that fair fights should be avoided whenever possible.

Jester and Isis announced their arrival with a blast from their main guns, focusing fire on the closest of the three X’thari scouts. The superdreadnought-level weapons combining to smash the scout vessel’s shields, likely doing some pretty severe damage to the ship itself. Questions about how much damage they did were rendered moot a second later, when one of Jester’s ship-killer missiles hit the crippled scout straight in their engines. Power on the scout ship died a half-second before the ship exploded, likely caused by reactor damage.

Two on two was still far too close to a ‘fair fight’ for Simimar’s liking, however. “All right, one down, two more to go. Isis, you have lead on this one. Jester will follow you in.”

Switching from the ship-to-ship frequency to internal coms, he said, “Meriel, keep a sharp eye on those sensors. I don’t want one of those bastards looping around to try and take us from behind. Susan, get us in formation with Isis, and follow their lead. We need to kill these bastards fast. Aiduin, we’re probably going to start stressing the shields in a second. Give me what you can get. Kitten, work with Fagan on Isis. I want these X’thari out of my sky.”

SexKitten purred happily. “Will do, Captain.” Simimar didn’t need to look over at her to know that she had her ‘game face’ on. She might play around a bit (more like constantly) normally, but now it was time to work. And if there was one thing about SexKitten that was one hundred percent pure Felisan, despite her being a Nomad, it was that she never messed around when the hunt was on.

With that, Simimar tried to get that freighter on the coms. “Alebeard Shipping Vessel True Brew, this is Black Star Navy Jester. Damage report. Can you clear the engagement zone?”

“True Brew to Jester. Shields are at 5% and climbing on secondary generators. Currently on backup power. Will need to make repairs before engaging FTL.”

“Jester copies, True Brew. Maintain best course and speed away from engagement area. We’ll keep the X’thari off your backs.”

Gritting his teeth, he switched to Isis’s frequency. “Victor, civvie freighter unable to disengage. Wounded duck scenario. We need to keep the raiders focused on us.”

Isis’s Captain grunted. “Fair enough. Bogey’s Two and Three are turning to intercept us. We’ll hold their attention, don’t you worry.”

“Take the lead on Three, he’s closest. We’ll follow you in, and watch your back.”

“Wilco.”

Simimar turned his attention back to his navigational plot and the sensor logs. Two on two was a fair fight, but X’thari raiders and Black Star gunboats didn’t stack up evenly. They had their strengths and weaknesses. The X’thari were light, nimble craft that had a small (but significant) advantage in speed, especially on single vectors. The gunboats had a tighter turn radius, and were built strong enough to take the extra stress of flipping a vertical 180 degrees, firing back along their flight path. Their main weapons were stronger and had a longer range than the X’thari grav-lances, but the lances were on turrets instead of spinal mounts, meaning the X’thari didn’t have to be facing straight at their prey to shoot it. Of course, the gunboats did have the advantage of shields and missile loads, and their point defense could still hurt a X’thari scout if they didn’t have shields up.

Everyone who served on a Black Star gunboat got cross-trained. You learned enough of the other person’s job so that if shit went down, and they were either incapacitated, off the ship, or whatever, you could work the problem. Didn’t have to be a master at it, but you did have to know how to sing a few bars, in a pinch.

Susan Glass, their human pilot, had slipped into her seat even before the first shot was fired, and she was following Isis’s pilot in a twisting ark that aimed to cut off the X’thari the computer had named Bogey Three. Simimar didn’t bother giving her orders, instead, he was keeping track of the battlefield, and listening to the communications channels, so they could coordinate with Isis. Meriel Carfiel, their knelfi backup mechanic was also their primary medic, but until people or machines needed fixing, she was sitting at a console, keeping sharp track of the sensors, making sure that Bogey Two didn’t get in behind them, or make a run on the freighter. Breaking off on an attack run towards the freighter would be a very un-X’thari thing to do, when there was stronger prey around, that wasn’t crippled, but the bugs were clever, and weren’t above leading an enemy into a trap.

Which is also why Aiduin Rolana, their knelfi Engineer, was already working to keep this gunboat running smoothly while the weapons were flying. The Nomads had a lovely saying about the ‘Demon God’ Murphy, and how everything that can go wrong eventually will go wrong. Which is why they had five crewmembers on a ship that could be easily run by three, maybe even two. Redundancy wasn’t a bad thing, when it came to military hardware.

This battle would be over soon enough. Whatever else the X’thari were, they weren’t stupid. The destruction of their first scout ship caused them to break off their attack on the True Brew. Bogey Three was trying to turn, and get out from under their guns, and was going in three dimensions to try and make up for their inferior turn radius. Bogey Two, on the other hand, was looping back, looking to…

Meriel spotted it. “Captain! Bogey Two maneuvering to try and get on our six!”

Simimar grit his teeth. “Transferring power to rear shields! Susan, keep us masking Isis. Let them worry about Three. SexKitten, I want a missile headed Two’s way, ASAP! Give them something to think about besides shooting us full of holes. Aiduin, I need all the shield power you can give me!”

“Missile away!”

The gunboat rocked as the X’thari grav-lance raked their shields, jerking everyone up short by their safety harnesses. Simimar grimaced as he saw the numbers. Forty-five percent reduction in field strength from that single hit, and that was after they’d been reinforced! Damn, but those grav-lances packed a punch.

Bogey Two rolled into a corkscrew spiral to evade the missile, doing its best to keep us in its sights, while denying us an easy targeting solution. And if they broke to engage, the X’thari would have a free shot at Isis. It wouldn’t take them long to break through her shields, and then the odds would be worse.

“Isis, Jester. These Xithies are getting on my nerves. You feel like a bit of a game with them?”

“Jester, Isis. Now that you mention it, this is starting to annoy me a little bit. Perhaps we should try and clear the air? Surprise Party?”

“Affirmative. Call the shot.”

“Surprise Party in three… two… one… BREAK!”

The X’thari were hunters. They may have adapted well to the concepts of space combat, but they were not soldiers. They were hunters and they fought and flew like hunters, preferring to stalk and entrap their prey. Black Stars were military, pure and simple.

Surprise Party was one of the maneuvers that all Black Star Navy pilots trained in as part of their formation training. On command, Isis abruptly angled up and cut all thrust. Jester burst through the space her sister had just been in, boosting speed and rebalancing her shields, a brace of missiles flying from her forward tubes as her main gun fired at Bogey Three. They all missed, but that was only a minor disappointment. The main thing was keeping that scout’s head down. Bogey Two couldn’t break off in time to target Isis, and flew right past the gunboat, which quickly reengaged thrust as it angled down, bringing her main gun in line with two’s stern. Now, it was two on one, and both ships were pursuing Three once more.

Then the presence of the tarpit was gone, along with the last X’thari scout. Simimar breathed out a sigh of relief. “Isis, Jester. Bogey Three has quit the area. No sense chasing them into whatever defenses they have at their base. Form up on True Brew. We’ll cover her until she is able to go to warp.”

“Copy Jester. Forming up on Slowby McSlowface.”

Simimar chuckled at the ancient joke, and looked around. “Meriel, Aiduin, run diagnostics, make sure nothing worked loose when we got our bell rung. Susan, take us towards the freighter. SexKitten, keep an eye out for that last ship, in case they get their nerve back.”

While the crew got to their tasks, Simimar logged the last course and speed of the X’thari raider, and included it in the incident report he was writing. Switching frequencies, he transmitted, “True Brew, Jester. Two X’thari scouts destroyed, one running. Isis and Jester will remain on station until you are underway. Suggest expediting warp repairs, in case they come back.”

“Brew copies, Jester. And thanks for that.”

“Just doing our job, Brew. We’ll let you get back to your repairs. Jester, out.”

(Main Bridge, BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, Cadra Primaris)

Slave-Captain Ara Virstina was at ease. At least, that was what her crew saw of her. There were multiple battles going on, according to her reports, but none of them affected her deployment orders. The attacks had all been launched by X’thari raiders, all in light scout craft, fighting in Thirds. Since even if her ships left at this moment, they would be hours or days late by the time they got to even one of the battle sites, all she could do about them was collate data, and prepare her report for the Master.

So far, the attacks had been typical commerce raider actions. The ‘what’ and the ‘how’ were normal, the only oddities were the ‘who’ and the ‘why’. X’thari didn’t typically go shooting up transports in interstellar space. That wasn’t their thing. The fact that they were dealing with multiple X’thari incursions throughout the sector also meant that this was likely more than a simple skirmish.

At least the battles were going well. So far, they hadn’t lost any ships, primarily because they were launching surprise attacks. Like the X’thari, Black Star’s screening elements were ambush predators at heart. Once the X’thari committed to an attack on one of the bait freighters, the Black Stars would pounce. Sure, they hadn’t gotten away with those victories free and clear. Several gunboats were damaged, a couple critically, and Wisteria had suffered a grav-lance hit when she put her hull between a raider and a freighter, sending her on emergency power temporarily. Fortunately, they hadn’t lost any of the ships.

Still, all of this spoke to a much larger X’thari presence in the Grathdan Sector than anyone had suspected. Dutifully, Virstina went through the reports, until she came to Jester’s after-action report. Something troubled her about it. Pulling up the sector map, she plotted the action site, and then the course the Raider that escaped took to break contact. It was a straight-line course to the Coldana System.

Virstina sighed. She was privately glad that the Admiral had decided to play ‘hooky’. Everyone knew that he got antsy when he was cooped up for too long, so giving him some space to be ‘normal’ was all well and good. Of course, she DID have a tactical team following her Master discretely. He hadn’t ordered her not to, and by this point he probably already knew they were there. He could pretend he was a normal man, but Virstina had a responsibility to see that he stayed alive.

Now, she was going to have to cut his ‘vacation’ short. Hitting a button on her communicator, she waited until the other side picked up, and said, “Raven, it is Slave-Captain Virstina, on the Ama-no-Murakumo. We have multiple confirmed X’thari raiders in the sector, striking freighter traffic. One scout ship escape, probable destination Coldana.”

(Flag Bridge, CNV Spear of Tagrun, Interstellar Space)

Admiral Gifol Warhelm was glad to be finally underway. Coldana was the primary naval base in the Grathdan Sector, so when Coldana went out of contact, gathering relief forces that could be sent was a problem. Sending individual ships was pointless, as it would just leave them to be destroyed individually. So, he had been forced to wait and concentrate the relief forces.

His Tenth Fleet had been stationed in the Helfan Sector, on the edge of the Ihm Imperium. The word of Coldana’s silence had spread rapidly through the Fleet, and orders were quickly cut for him to reinforce and relieve the fleet base, since relations between the Consortium and the Imperium were as good as they typically got for the time being. Getting from one side of the Consortium to another quickly was a minor logistical nightmare, but that is why all fleet commands trained for rapid redeployment, in the case of invasion. He had to leave much of his fleet train behind to make the best time, but he had arrived in the Grathdan Sector a mere three weeks after Coldana was first reported as going dark.

Fortunately, the Consortium was not so foolish as to place all their forces in a sector at a single fleet base, but Ekyinos was only a secondary base, little more than a supply depot, really. Originally intended as a base for forces tasked to antipiracy efforts, Warhelm knew it was completely unsuited to the task of being the launching point for his forces. Further, it was also on the other side of the Sector from Coldana. Which is why, when he brought his fleet through the Gateway at Dagon, he had the remaining sector forces rally with him at the Cadra System, along with every logistics freighter they could manage bringing supplies from Ekyinos. This would shave two weeks off the time necessary to rally the combined fleet, and an entire month off the time to relieve Coldana.

His only worry, when devising this plan of action, was the fact that stripping the Sector of every warship he could get his hands on would leave the trade fleets vulnerable to pirates who would try to take advantage of the situation. But a Fleet Base does not simply drop off the face of the universe for a lark. Something was desperately wrong at Coldana, and that meant he needed all the guns he could get, and he needed them sooner, rather than later.

The lack of information was disturbing, in more ways than one. He had the feeling of flying off into the void, without charts or instruments to guide him. Preparing for an adversary you did not know the capabilities of was a near impossibility. But if they were able to silence an entire system so completely, then they needed to be able to predict and prepare, so that he didn’t end up wasting his fleet, rather than saving Coldana.

The only good news in all of this was that the Sector Administrator had not been idle. When the Fleet Base went dark, she clearly recognized the need for relief forces, and knew where they would have to come from. Even before he had departed from his base in the Helfan Sector, the Sector Administrator had commandeered a Navy cruiser, and had gotten a mercenary group to patrol the spacelanes in the sector and keep pirates in check. They even had capitol ships that could help defend the sector capitol, if needed.

Such quick action was to be commended, and Warhelm had already sent messages publicly supporting the Sector Administrator’s actions to both Fleet Command and the Trade Council. Far too many of the Sector Administrators would be too afraid of harming their precious bottom line to make the hard choices that were required when it came time to actually defend the people and territory under their command. They would have spent a month or more negotiating the terms of the agreement to get the mercenaries to do the most work for the least amount of money and the fewest billable expenses. While that may be useful for normal situations, a crisis demanded swift action. One did not become a Sector Administrator by being wasteful with capitol, of course, but Sector Administrator Yutreda Woldmane was clearly able to tell the difference between ‘business as usual’ and a crisis.

Even better, from his point of view, was the fact that she had not insisted on coming with him and the Tenth Fleet to relieve Coldana. Too many Administrators would feel the need to put their fingers in the confection to ensure that they got credit for any successes, and could be there to forcefully lay the blame on someone else if there were failures. It always resulted in a dramatic drop in efficiency and often became the source of adverse results. She had remained on Cadra, and he was extremely thankful for that.

His ruminations were disrupted by the sound of a chime, indicating that someone was approaching the Flag Bridge’s doors. He tapped a command into his screen, and saw the scene outside, with a lowly Ensign being stopped by the marines outside the door. Normally, no ensign would ever be allowed onto a flag bridge on a Consortium Navy flagship, but the guards checked the ensign’s identification against a list, and then allowed him in.

Frowning, Warhelm brought up the Ensign’s file, to find out what would cause the marines to allow him onto the flag bridge. Ah, there it was. A Nomad, just recently graduated from the Consortium Naval Scholarium. That gave a possible reason for the Ensign to be on his flag bridge. Once news of the Nomad communication networks was verified by Naval Intelligence, he had issued a standing order that Nomads wearing the uniform be allowed access to command staff if they had received mission critical information via their networks. The same order also stated that wasting their commanders’ time would be harshly punished.

He heard the Ensign come to a halt behind him, the telltale sounds of someone coming to attention. “Sir! Ensign Hassot Alebraids reporting according to standing orders, sir!”

Warhelm turned, and viewed the Ensign. A Gauz male, he wore the uniform well, and didn’t have any of the silly affectations that most Nomads appeared to have. Discipline was important in the Navy, and this Ensign was clearly taking the lessons to heart. He would have to examine his file in more detail later on. Nomads had been at the center of several major changes recently, so keeping one on good terms would serve him well.

“At ease. I take it the Nomad communication networks have picked up something important, Ensign? Let us hear it, then.”

The Ensign shifted into the at ease position, and said, “As you know, Black Star ships have been patrolling the space lanes to curb piracy. According to chatter, they have encountered at least five X’thari raiding groups, each a third of scout ships. Survivors of one of the raiding groups appeared to jump out, heading towards Coldana. Black Star has sent out a general warning to all Nomads, letting them know the X’thari are on the hunt, and encouraging them to spread the word to local forces. Black Star has already used the planetary comms at Cadra Primaris to inform system governments across the sector.”

Admiral Warhelm nodded. “So, the Black Stars discovered the X’thari, and then moved to inform the sector as quickly as possible, via whatever means they had available. And you, hearing this, brought it straight to me. Very good. If we had more Nomads like you and the Black Stars, then we would have fewer problems. What is the disposition of the Black Star Fleet?”

“With a X’thari presence confirmed, Admiral Mollen is recalling all Black Star ships to Cadra Primaris. When he learned I was in Tenth Fleet, he specifically asked for me to pass along that the Black Stars would act as a backstop, should things goo poorly. The few Nomads in the Coldana system haven’t found any traces of the X’thari, but they’re standing ready to pass along information as it comes through.”

“Excellent. Anything else to report?”

“Yes, Admiral. A Nomad claiming to be part of the Shatterback Clan of pirates has come forward offering an ‘arrangement’ with the Black Stars. From what was discussed, the pirate clans have also been losing ships to the X’thari, and are discussing their options. Admiral Mollen told them that, if the clans did not engage in piracy during this crisis, then his contract with the Consortium would not require him to hunt them. If they took that time to engage in ‘less than legal’ shipping concerns between planets, or heading out of the Sector, then that was not part of his contract, and none of his concern.”

“And they knew you were listening to this?”

“Yes, sir. This happened after I had identified myself as a member of Tenth Fleet, and Admiral Mollen had discussed his plans.”

Warhelm nodded slowly. “So, even the pirate clans understand the gravity of the situation, and are looking for options. Ensign, I want you to get back on that communication network, and let that pirate know that, on authority of the Tenth Fleet, ships conducting legitimate rescue and relief missions during the crisis will not be hindered, regardless of whether they may have ‘lapsed’ on registrations or have been identified in illicit acts previously. Dismissed.”

The Ensign saluted, and then walked off the bridge, presumably to get in contact with the Nomads. Looking over to his aide, Captain Millbrew, he said, “Millbrew, fire up the mobile FTL comm, and transmit the Ensign’s report to the nearest buoy, and have it retransmit to all planets and fleet resources in the sector. And get that Ensign’s complete file for me. I want to see if he is in line for promotion.” He paused, and then added, “And pass to all ships in the fleet, ‘Expect X’thari involvement, formation Red Nine’. Not much else we can do until we find them.”

(Fleet Command Center, Coldana Prime, Coldana System)

The Fleet Command Center had been the site of barely controlled panic for the better part of a month, now, ever since whatever happened to plunge their system into a communication’s blackout had descended upon them. Fortunately, the Coldana System was relatively self-sufficient, and did not rely on imports of foodstuffs like some systems did to keep people from starving within days. Without imports, Coldana could support its colony and system infrastructure for months without hardship. Rationing had been put into effect, however, so that reserves could be established. Current estimates were that, with the rationing, they would be able to sustain Coldana’s population for a year, if nothing changed. That is when medicines and certain other non-food necessities would begin running out.

None of which made Admiral Fullstout happier about the situation. Whatever was keeping ships from getting in or out of the system was also keeping the FTL coms from connecting. He needed information on the outside world, and the threats his people faced. And the only source was… distasteful.

Chernikova Alevtina Vitalievna was a human. Worse, she was a Nomad. As if that wasn’t bad enough, her ship, the Fucking Bitch was a confirmed smuggler, dealing primarily in contraband psychoactive materials and slaves. However, Captain Chernikova was the only Nomad in the system, which meant she was the only way he had of getting news from the outside.

“So, it is confirmed that the X’thari are responsible, then? That is… unfortunate.”

Chernikova shrugged, and said in that heavy accent of hers, “I don’t see what is so bad about it. Yes, the bugs are nasty, but what can they really do if the people on the ground fight? The gravity outside is three times that of Earth. They would not last long once they left their ships. Hell, Gauz are the only ones that can walk around here without grav belts.”

Fullstout shook his head. “Oh, it is very bad. If the people from Shadowgate were responsible, I could at least see an occupation in the future. With this being the X’thari, then this would be the largest action since the last X’thari war. In that war, entire planets were consumed, down to the bedrock, and left as lifeless husks, stripped of all resources and biomatter to feed the swarm.”

Chernikova frowned. “Well, that will definitely suck for whoever’s on the planet when they get here.”

(Flag Bridge, CNV Spear of Tagrun, Interstellar Space)

There was a tension on the flag bridge as Tenth Fleet approached the Line. There was no physical line, of course. It was simply the line past which all contact had been lost by Consortium ships approaching the Coldana System. The line past which the X’thari waited.

Admiral Warhelm was no exception to that air of tension. He had fought in the last X’thari war, as the captain of a destroyer, and knew first-hand how dangerous the X’thari could be. Three formerly habitable worlds in the Free Worlds Alliance were now barren husks, stripped clean of all biomass and their resources stripped down to the bedrock. Each time before, the system had been isolated from the rest of Known Space, and only a single ship had ever escaped the ‘Dead Zone’ once it went up.

That ship was a Terran-built corvette that had gone completely silent, and engaged a ballistic course with the best stealth they could manage, heading ‘up’, away from the ecliptic. The INS Fitzroy spent seven days pretending to be a hole in space, allowing their Transition Drive to trickle charge. For six days, they were forced to listen to the cries of the people trapped on the planet of Hurin’s World. Six days listening to those cries falter, and then fail. On the seventh day, there was silence. On the eighth day, they hit the heliopause, and were able to Transition away.

The Fitzroy brought with it the only survivors of Hurin’s world and the combined Allied Fleet that had tried to hold back the X’thari. Thirty souls, all told, from a fleet of over a hundred ships. Thirty souls, from a system that was home to millions.

But the survivors were not the only bounty the Fitzroy brought with her. For the first time, the Galaxy at large were able to lay witness to the horror of a X’thari Harvester. A massive bioship the size of a small moon, it physically latched on to Hurin’s World, and began to consume it like a living creature. As it ate, it ‘birthed’ new X’thari ships, and the initial drones to crew them.

Still, the Consortium had not spent the intervening years idle. Knowing that the threat of the X’thari could one day return, they had focused a great deal of attention on active detection systems, hoping to destroy the X’thari advantage when it came to stealth attacks, and on defensive systems, to ward off the powerful grav lances the X’thari ships used. That these improvements also helped defend them against other groups, such as the Terran Empire, was a delightful bonus to something that had been a military necessity.

The Tenth Fleet was in formation Red Nine. This was one of the formations they had developed to try and detect stealthed X’thari vessels, with active scanners tuned to find X’thari hulls in particular. In the few tests they had been able to run, the overlapping sensor fields had been very effective in detecting X’thari ships. Whether that would be true in practice, however, was anyone’s guess.

With a practiced ease and nonconcern that flew in the face of his internal concern, Warhelm keyed his console to send a transmission to the entire fleet. An admiral must appear to be the calm at the eye of the storm, after all. “Men and women of the Tenth Fleet, and the Auxiliary Forces of Grathdan Sector, this is Admiral Warhelm. By now, you will have heard rumors of the foe we face. I will confirm some of them now. The X’thari have returned in force to Known Space, and, this time, their first target appears to be the Coldana System.”

“Given the communications blackout with Coldana, the exact number and disposition of our foe remains uncertain. The last time the X’thari used methods like this, it involved no mere True Hunt, but the Swarm itself descending upon Known Space. We must assume that the Swarm has once more returned to Known Space.”

“However, much has changed since the last time the X’thari darkened the skies of Known Space, when the joined forces of civilization united to push back the Swarm. Our ships are stronger, faster, tougher than ever before, and our sensors are primed to seek out and identify X’thari raiders lurking in stealth. Our crews are some of the best trained in the galaxy. Our tactics have evolved to account for the habits and psychology of the enemy.”

“Most importantly, however, is the recent arrival of the Nomads to Known Space, bringing with them new ideas and new capabilities. We now know that the Nomad communications networks cannot be stopped by the technology of the X’thari. Because of this, we know the enemy we face. Because of this, we know that Coldana yet stands. Because of this, we know that any information we can gain while in contact with the swarm will make it back to Fleet High Command, even if all our ships are lost. Because of this, should the worst happen, there will be other forces ready to stand fast and protect the planets at our backs.”

“I will not lie to you. Not all of us will survive this day. Perhaps none of us will. But there are four hundred and eighty-five MILLION souls on Coldana Prime alone. Fifteenth Fleet, which is stationed at Fleet Base Coldana, contains two hundred thousand souls, including the auxiliaries and support personnel living at the base. They still stand, and are waiting for aid. And Tenth Fleet will do our best to bring it to them. It may be that our best is not enough, and that we will fall and fail, but if that is our fate, then I say we make the bastards bleed for it!”

“We will not abandon the people of Coldana or the Fifteenth Fleet. We are the Consortium Navy, and it is our duty and privilege to be the shield between our people and those who would threaten them. In front of us is an enemy that consumes worlds. Behind us are civilians. Young men and women, children, the elderly and the infirm. They cannot fight this fight, and I would not wish it upon them. So, we will take the fight to the enemy, and ensure that, no matter what happens, the X’thari will always remember Tenth Fleet!”

He took a breath, and barked, in a crisp, clear voice of command, “This is Admiral Warhelm to all ships. All forces are to advance at best speed. No one stops until they reach Coldana! Warhelm, out.” And with that, he cut the channel.

(Free Trader Fucking Bitch, Coldana System)

“It just feels wrong, Captain.”

Captain Chernikova growled at her main gunner (not that a Zvezdnoye Nebo-class freighter, even one configured for smuggling, had much in the way of guns). “Damn it, Tima, do you think I like this any more than you do? But we are the only ship that can possibly get the word out if things go bad, and you know it. That Admiral Fullstout showed me the records of the ship that escaped a situation like this before. The X’thari ships numbered in the HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS, Timofey! The last time, they only stopped the Swarm when an entire fleet bought enough time for a dreadnought to make a suicide run on the Harvester when they caught it between systems. They overloaded their reactor right in the Harvester’s mouth. Even then, eighty-three percent of the Harvester remained. Half the X’thari forces dragged the Harvester away, while the other half scattered into Hunts, forcing navies to spend three years hunting them.”

Kharzov Timofey Viktorovich grimaced, and then shook his head. “Still feels wrong, Captain, like we’re running away.” He turned, and headed for the ship’s recreation deck, likely to work some frustration out on the training dummy.

Alevtina sighed to herself. When she had managed to get her hands on the Fucking Bitch, she had been all too happy to recruit an all-Russian crew. But she had to admit that the callous way they were skulking off, hoping that the X’thari didn’t see them until they were outside the Heliopause, and could escape… well, it wore on her sensibilities as well. It was something one might expect of the Chinese, or the Koreans. Even the Americans would be less than pleased at something like this.

But she had to face facts. Her ship was the only one in the system that could possibly escape. If the X’thari did come with one of their Harvesters and the swarm that came with it, then there was nothing that they could do to stop it. The moment a Harvester appeared in this system, the people of Coldana were dead. It was just a matter of the physical world catching up to the reality of the situation.

The Fucking Bitch could not save the people of Coldana. However, the deadliest weapon in any navy’s arsenal was intelligence. Knowing this, the Consortium Navy had upgraded her ship’s sensors to military grade, and placed as many additional sensor systems on the ship as they could manage. In their hold were stacks of computers, containing not just the processing power and storage space to get every last bit of data on the Swarm that they could, but also to hold as much of Coldana’s data networks, including personal messages from every Coldanan who wished to send final letters to kin elsewhere. The Fucking Bitch was effectively the Last Will and Testament of the Coldana System as a whole.

Coldana would die when the Harvester arrived. That was a foregone conclusion. But if Chernikova Alevtina Vitalievna had anything to say about it, they would damn sure be remembered, and their sacrifice would not go to waste.

But, even so, Timofey was right. It just felt wrong, turning tail and running, when you knew that millions were going to die. She sighed, and slipped into the Nomad communication nets. The others needed to know what Coldana had planned.

(Fleet Command Center, Coldana Prime, Coldana System)

Admiral Fullstout had not slept. The idea of doing something so mundane as sleeping when the looming specter of the X’thari was upon them was simply ludicrous. He knew, as well as the rest of his command, that there was nothing that they could do to stop the Swarm if it came to them.

Everyone knew that the situation was hopeless. There wasn’t any force that could reach them in time, and with enough strength, to make the difference. That was the cold, hard truth. But that didn’t mean they weren’t going to fight. The more damage they could do to the swarm, the better the chances the rest of the Consortium would have.

And the Navy wasn’t going to be the only ones fighting. The armories were being opened up, and everyone who could hold a gun was being given one. Everyone knew that there would be no surviving what was to come, but they intended to bleed the Swarm for every centimeter of ground. It would not be enough, but it was all they had. Their one real hope was that the Fucking Bitch managed to get away with the sensor data, so that the Navy could find a way to end this.

Suddenly, alarms began going off in the command center. The invasion alarm was sounding. The X’thari were not even trying to hide, not with the massive numbers that were coming in. Fullstout’s mind boggled at the numbers. One hundred and seventy-two thousand five hundred ships. Just thinking in such numbers was more than he could bear. And then there was the Harvester, in the center of the swarm.

A grim look came over his face. “Set off the tarpits. We’ll slow them down as much as we possibly can. All ships stand ready to fight. Send word to civil defense. Let them know that the Swarm has arrived.”

He paused, and then looked to an aide. “Have the shuttles been prepared?”

“Yes, Admiral.”

“Have the pilots man their ships. Operation Firebringer is a go.”

(Fleet Command Center, Coldana Prime, Coldana System)

Fleet Base Coldana had twelve shuttles, primarily used for in-system transfer of personnel on shore leave, though they were also available for search and rescue work, when that was needed. Unfortunately, despite being the primary fleet base for the Fifteenth Fleet, they were somewhat lacking in manpower. They were, after all, on the back end of nowhere, as far as the Consortium was concerned, and most of the fleet’s screening elements had been parceled out for antipiracy work.

Of course, even if they had been blessed to have their entire fleet in Coldana, it would not be enough for what was coming. The X’thari Swarm measured in the thousands, and no one was sure whether they could actually kill the Harvester. This was an effort beyond anything the Consortium Navy could put together, certainly on no notice, with no time to build up their forces.

One hundred and twelve warships of the Consortium Navy were present here. One hundred and twelve shups, against one hundred and seventy-five thousand. Admiral Fullstout was proud of his fleet, and he certainly had not allowed training to lapse, despite this being a backwater post. Indeed, training and competition between crews was vital to keeping up morale. He would put any one of his crews against twice or even three times their number, and lay money on his crews, his ships. Even at five to one, he would lay even odds on his people. But they were outnumbered over FIFTEEN HUNDRED to one! There was no fleet in existence who could beat back such odds.

But they could hurt the X’thari, buy the time the Consortium needed to gather the fleets. He knew that Admiral Warhelm and Tenth Fleet were already on their way. They would crash into the X’thari swarm as well, bleeding them. He had no illusions about their chances, however. The X’thari were simply too many. But, if they could bleed them enough, slow them enough, then the rest of the fleet would have time to gather before the entire sector was overwhelmed.

“Admiral, Shuttles 1 through 6 are in position. Fighters have launched. Firebringer is ready.”

“Put me on, system wide.” The officer nodded that he was on, and Admiral Fullstout looked into the camera. “Men and women of the Consortium Navy, Citizens of the Consortium, People of Coldana, I am Admiral Fullstout. As you know, the X’thari Swarm is upon us. Their ships number in the hundreds of thousands. I will not lie to you. There is no way for us to win this fight.”

“We will not survive this battle. But how we go out will define how we are remembered for eternity. Will we simply lay down, roll over, and let these… creatures destroy everything that we have built over generations? Or will we fight the hopeless fight, for no reason other than to ensure that the motherless bastards bleed for every last step? Every minute we resist is another minute the Consortium has to rally the fleets. Every drone killed and ship destroyed is one that the swarm has to replace. The longer and bloodier we make our final stand, the greater the chance that the Consortium will be able to rally troops to fight the Swarm.”

“Now is the hour of our final test! Now is the last stand of Coldana! Now we show the universe that the flames of Jormak Lavabrew, who forged the Consortium from the disunited clans, has not gone out! Now the X’thari learn that the grim defiance of Karfun Coldblight, first settler of Coldana, has not gone missing in his descendants, and those who carry on his legacy!”

“To all the people of Coldana, I say to you, FIGHT! If we are to die, then take as many of the bastards down with you as you can! To the men and women of the Navy, you are the first defense. Give them to the icy grip of the Hell-queen herself! If we must die, then we must die, but make it a death to be remembered in song for all eternity! DEATH AND GLORY AWAIT US!”

Admiral Fullstout took a moment to breathe, and then said, “Execute Firebringer!”

(Free Trader Fucking Bitch, Coldana System)

If anyone asked, Captain Chernikova would say with certainty that there was a problem with the air filtration system. That was why it merely looked like her eyes were tearing up. Not that she would be alone. The entire crew were silent, watching the screens as the Consortium got into formation, ready to defend the planet against the oncoming X’thari. They had all been listening to the Admiral’s speech.

Timofey bowed his head. “That was good. That was almost Russian.”

Whatever Chernikova was going to say flew from her mind when she saw the sensors. Overlapping tarpits were covering the entire system, but suddenly six shuttles went to lightspeed, covering the distance between the fleet and the X’thari in seconds. And they didn’t stop.

Six massive explosions appeared on the scanners, as one by one the shuttles met a X’thari ship at superluminal speeds, resulting in an impact that was beyond what any ship’s shields or hull could withstand. Six capitol ships exploded with such vigor that the closest scout ships were also destroyed. Six shuttles, with their crews, in return for thirteen enemy ships destroyed. That was a favorable trade in anyone’s book. But it would not be enough.

Then the fighters attacked. Two hundred fighters, with fifty bombers following behind them, launched themselves into the gap created by the six shuttles, throwing themselves into the fire while the X’thari were still reeling from the sudden attack. Their suicidal attacks deepened the hole in the X’thari lines, as ships burned and died by the dozens.

That was when the final six shuttles went to warp, one by one. The first four hit more ships, clearing the path. The last two, however, made it through. Like a bolt from the hand of a vengeful god, they struck the Harvester, traveling at over five hundred times the speed of light! Their impacts each hit the Harvester with a force of 337 YOTTAJOULES! Each was worth 80.5 PETATONS of TNT!

In any just and sane universe, that would have been the end of it. One such impact would be enough to crack open a moon. Two, especially so close together, would shatter it. In a universe ruled by a kind and loving creator, any biological creature, even the Harvester, would have been a miniature nebula after being reduced to its component molecules by such an impact! For a brief moment, Chernikova allowed herself to hope.

The interference from the explosions cleared, but Chernikova did not see it. A psychic scream blasted across the solar system, stunning every living creature who heard it. Wiping the blood from her nose, Chernikova desperately looked at her plot, and hope died.

“It’s still there!”

How? How could it be able to shrug off such an impact? It would have to have shields to equal a planetary… command… center. “Oh god, those bastards! They have PLANETARY shields on that thing!”

Gregor, her copilot, frowned as he looked over the readings they were getting from the military sensors. “Don’t think so, Captain. Not sure, but I think it was more like layered shields. Shuttle 11 hit the top layer, blasted it to hell, and took out one or two more. Shuttle 12, she hit another one, but there must be a limit on how many shields they could layer, because the Harvester is clearly damaged. Looks like some massive burns, and the thing is BLEEDING!”

“With everything they hit it with? It should be DEAD, not bleeding! How the hell is it still alive after a dreadnought blowing up took out seventeen percent of the thing’s total mass lass time?”

“Cap’n, you’re forgetting, last time the Harvester was trying to eat the dreadnought. They were inside the shields, inside the ‘hull’, when it went off. Grenade is pretty damn dangerous in a hallway, right? But toss one at the Bitch while we’re in deep space, with shields up, and it is no big deal. They never fought the Harvester’s shields before.”

(Fleet Command Center, Coldana Prime, Coldana System)

“Damn. For a second there, I really thought that was going to work.”

Admiral Fullstout sighed. It WOULD be too much to ask for the gravest threat to the known galaxy to be wiped out so early in the battle, he guessed. “So did I, Captain. So did I. Any word on what that scream was about?”

The captain shook his head. “No sir. Best guess is that it was the Harvester, in pain. This suggests that the psy abilities of the X’thari have not been fully examined in the past. If their Harvester is powerful enough to affect the entire system because it got hurt…”

“Then there isn’t any point in trying to land someone on the thing. Even with 1000% Psy Resistance, there is no way someone could withstand that thing’s power, especially at close range.” He shook his head. “Guess it is a good thing I sent all the Fleet’s Marines down to the surface with all the weapons and ammo that they could carry. They wouldn’t have been much good up here.”

“Admiral, the X’thari are closing ranks. The hole is gone.”

Admiral Fullstout nodded grimly as he watched the X’thari continue their advance, with twice the number of ships between his forces and the Harvester now. There was no way he could force another hole, not now that the enemy knew what his plan was. Even if he sent his entire fleet, it would be impossible. “Understood. All ships, initiate Last Stand. Protect the planet as long as you can. May the Ancestors guide your path.”

Half an hour after the failed attack on the X’thari fleet, Fullstout was still on edge as he watched the enemy advance, relentless and unstoppable. Suddenly, a sensor officer called out, “ADMIRAL! Multiple Anchor drive signatures! Five signatures total!”

“Hmph. I guess we should be honored, boys. The bastards went and called for reinforcements!” Fullstout looked at the screen. Still, if that was the X’thari, they had certainly come in at strange points. All five points were clearly too small to be anything other than scout craft, but they were separated in five different directions, forming a pentagon perpendicular to the ecliptic. When the ships finally reappeared in realspace, Fullstout’s eyes widened. Those weren’t X’thari ships!

“Incoming transmission, Admiral! It is from the new ships!”

“Put it through!”

“This is Black Star Ship Heartseeker and sisters. Tenth Fleet is heavily engaged, and taking casualties in an attempt to relieve you. Nomad communications networks are helping spread tactical data on the situation.”

“This is Admiral Fullstout, Fifteenth Fleet, Consortium Navy. That’s better news than we had hoped, Heartseeker. We can confirm Firebringer is a partial failure. The Harvester is wounded, but still active.”

“Understood. We currently show the X’thari fleet splitting up, with most of the escort ships moving to intercept or chase us. We’ll draw them off as long as we can before jumping out. At the very least, your ships will get a good shot at their heavy hitters, even if you can’t get to the Harvester.”

Five ships, draw off all those escorts? How in the worlds were they planning on doing that? He had no sooner thought that, than he saw that it was coming true. Five great tendrils of the Swarm split off from the approach to Coldana, chasing the five quick-moving Black Star crafts. But why?

“Of course!” Fullstout looked to the officer who spoke. He grinned sheepishly, and said, “The Black Star ships came in on X’thari drives, Admiral! The only reason no one uses the X’thari anchor drives is because it riles up the X’thari, and they rabidly attack any ship they see using one, forgetting anything else!”

Fullstout’s eyes widened. “All ships! Advance on the enemy! Full speed ahead! Kill those fuckers before their escorts get tired of chasing Black Stars!” He paused, and then said, “Heartseeker, Admiral Fullstout. Many thanks to you and yours. Ancestors guide you.”

“Spearfather guide your blade, Admiral. Heartseeker, out.”

(BSS Heartseeker, Coldana System)

”Captain, the X’thari have committed roughly one hundred and forty-five thousand ships in pursuit, evenly divided amongst the group. The remaining ships, all cruisers or dreadnoughts, are holding course as they escort the Harvester.”

Drah Sross nodded grimly. “Twenty-nine thousand to one isn’t great odds. Fortunately, we’re not fighting.” She hit the button to turn on the group comms. “Heartseeker to all ships, go evasive. We need to keep them busy as long as possible, but we are under orders not to die out here, and I intend to make sure I follow that order!”

“Heartseeker, Prometheus. Understood. So long as the tarpits stay up, we should be able to make enough thrust to keep out of weapons range.”

“Nephilim here. We’ll keep the bastards occupied as long as we can. Secondary anchor drive charged and ready, primary already charging.”

“This is Stiletto. We’ll keep the bugs dancing all night if we have to.”

“Flux Capacitor reads, Heartseeker. We have good tracks on the swarm. We’ll keep out of their way, but can we at least take a few of them out as we go?”

Drah looked over to the side, where the projection of her ship’s Nomad AI, Adam was ‘standing’. “Adam, contact the Master through the Nomad networks, and ask for permission to engage.”

“Understood, Captain.” There was a brief pause, and then the AI looked at her. “Admiral Mollen gives permission for all Black Star forces in the Coldana System to engage the X’thari, but only from outside X’thari weapons range. Use of Starbolts has been authorized. Additional orders incoming. If possible, forces are to remain in local Escape and Evade mode until the Consortium navy ships have been destroyed, before executing Double Jump. Targeted systems: Amazon, then Star’s Reach. Fifth Group has reinforced Third Group in the system, in case the X’thari are able to follow ships through anchor jumps. Any group ship that comes within X’thari weapons range is to jump immediately.”

Drah nodded. Turning to the comm again, she said, “All right, people, we have new orders! Continue escape and evade as long as you can, but use of Starbolts is authorized, so I don’t want anyone coming back with weapons still on board. But don’t get cocky! If you get within X’thari weapons range, you earn yourself an immediate ticket out, and you buy drinks for the rest of us when we hit port. Otherwise, keep flying until the Consortium Navy ships are dead, and then Double Jump to Star’s Reach by Amazon. Remember to target the proper holding area, so that the patrols don’t swat you from the sky!”

“Captain, sensors are detecting a ship on our current evasive path. It is in stealth mode, but appears to be a freighter of Terran make.”

Grithad drek! That had to be the Nomad ship that had been providing tactical data before they had arrived! “Open a channel, tightbeam transmission!”

(Free Trader Fucking Bitch, Coldana System)

“Amazing! They peeled off so much firepower with just five ships?”

Captain Chernikova shook her head at Gregor’s outburst. “They played on the one reason no one in Known Space uses the X’thari drives. Something about using one on a non-X’thari ship drives the bugs mad, and they drop everything else to seek and destroy. If they had brought more ships, they might even have gotten the capitol ships to join the hunt.”

Timofey nodded slowly. “Those five ships, they can’t hope to kill enough of the Swarm to matter, but they are drawing the majority of its strength off, allowing the Consortium to attack the big ships, and maybe hurt the Swarm enough that they will be delayed in going after any other worlds in the sector. The more time they are forced to spend in Coldana, the more time for an allied fleet to form up and take the fight to the Swarm.”

“These ships are clearly a modification of those Starlight Raven freighters, but they can’t have any kind of cargo capacity worth talking about! What are they even good for?”

Alevtina grinned. “They’re scouts, Gregor. You don’t go hunting without having an idea of where to go, right? There is a lot of unexplored space out there. From the readings we’re getting, those are probably the fastest, and most heavily armed, long-range scout ships in the galaxy right now.”

“You mean that crazy American is actually looking to hunt down the X’thari homeworld?”

Timofey laughed short and barkingly. “HA! Wouldn’t you, if you had his resources? These X’thari, they are a threat to the entire galaxy, but no one can ever end their threat, because no one knows where they live. But if you find where they are coming from, then you can maybe strike a blow that they won’t recover from.”

Manka looked up from the communications station. “Captain, we’re getting a tightbeam transmission from the closest of those Black Star ships.”

Alevtina paled. “Quick, pull up the projected track of that Black Star, and the ships following it! Manka, put them through!”

The view of the battle was replaced by the track of the BSS Heartseeker and its followers, and the cone of their projected track had the Fucking Bitch right in the middle of it! Next to the track, an image of an Ihm female in a Black Star civilian ship suit came up as the connection was established. “This is Slave Captain Drah Sross of the BSS Heartseeker. If your ship is transition capable, you need to get out of here. We cannot keep these X’thari occupied forever.”

“Captain Chernikova Alevtina Vitalievna of the Fucking Bitch. We are transition capable, and ready to transition at a moment’s notice. But we made a promise to the Admiral that we would stay and bear witness to the end of Fifteenth Fleet, at least. Even if it is the only thing we can do, they deserve that much.”

The Ihm grimaced, but nodded. “We will try to draw them away from you, then. My orders are escape and evade until Fifteenth Fleet is destroyed, or the X’thari get in weapons range of us. We’ll work to rile them up a little more. Suggest that you transition immediately if the X’thari get in weapons range. Your ship is going to be the only one with detailed scans of the damage the Consortium Navy did to the Harvester. If you can get it to Cadra Primaris, Black Star and the Consortium Navy are beginning to gather any ships they can there. The more data they have, the better able they will be to come up with some kind of plan.”

Alevtina grinned, and said, “Captain, I assure you that nothing would please me more than to make sure this data gets to the hands of someone who will use it to take that bastard down.” She glanced at the projected track again. The cone had moved slightly, as Heartseeker adjusted course. She overlaid the estimated effective sensor range of the X’thari scouts for detecting her ship. “If you can bring them around another twelve degrees, we should be able to keep out of their sensor lock range, so long as we keep radio silent.”

Slave Captain Sross looked at her numbers, and frowned. “We should be able to pull that off. But it will be close. You’ll need to be ready to bug out as soon as we do. The moment the X’thari lose us, they’re likely to go active and start looking for new prey to take their aggression out on.”

“Understood, Heartseeker. Good luck, and good hunting. We meet again, first round is on us.”

“Copy, Fucking Bitch. Safe flight and warm breeze. Heartseeker, out.”

(Fleet Command Center, Coldana Prime, Coldana System)

Admiral Fullstout watched with a stoicism that he did not feel as the Fifteenth Fleet charged into odds that were suicidal by any stretch of the imagination, but were now such that they actually had a hope of doing some significant damage to the enemy fleet. Maybe a thousand of the X’thari ships had been lost in the fury of Firebringer’s assault, as fighters became kamikazes at superluminal speeds, but there were still far too many for his ships to take on. He would have liked to be up on the command deck of his flagship, the Blade of Drakon. Better to die fighting to the last ship than to wait here in the command bunker for the X’thari to come to him.

That was a trap, and he knew it. His ships would be best served, and their sacrifice would mean more, if command and control of the fleet remained steady throughout the fight, allowing them to coordinate so they could kill more of the enemy ships. That meant he had to stay back, where an unlucky shot to the flag deck couldn’t cut the head off Fifteenth Fleet before it was able to do all the damage it possibly could. If he was sending his fleet to die, then he would ensure that they had the best chance possible, damnit.

He was also the senior military commander for the Coldana System. The Marines answered to him, in the end, as did all other military personnel in the system. That meant he needed to be here, for when the ground defense started. There would be enough chaos without trying to reform the chain of command, or establish which priorities a new commander might have. There was no time for such things, not when there were X’thari who would be in desperate need of killing as the people of Coldana made them pay for every centimeter of ground in blood.

“Fifteenth Fleet reporting in, Admiral. They have engaged the Swarm’s capitol ships.”

Fullstout nodded. He could see it on the screens himself, but the words needed to be said. A sense of order and calm would keep people from giving in to fear and despair. The grim purpose of making the bastards pay would drive them. That is the only thing he could think of, now. Making sure that the enemy bought their lives as dearly as he could possibly drive the price.

“Have the 333rd Destroyer Group form up on the flank. Tell them to target the X’thari cruisers to try and pull them away from the dreadnoughts, so the Blade of Drakon and the other heavies can get in and fight it out.” He took a breath, and said, “All ships are to target primary reactors and engines. Any ship that is disabled and out of the fight is to be ignored in favor of bleeding the enemy as much as possible.”

“Understood, Admiral.”

“Have the analysts figured out which ships are the Hunt Leaders yet?”

“Probable guesses only for the most part, Admiral. We have one confirmed, the superdreadnought at the front of the formation, along with a half dozen probables running from 30-67% based on comm leakage. Can’t intercept their comms, but the radiation leaks when they aren’t in stealth, perhaps due to shield design.”

“All superdreadnoughts are to concentrate firepower on the confirmed target. All possible command ships are to be given priority target status. If we can kill the Hunt Leaders, then intel suggests that the Swarm will start breaking up into individual Grand Hunts or smaller groups, and stop coordinating their efforts until new Lead Hunters can be designated.”

“Admiral! Sensors are detecting hyperdrives entering the system!”

“That has to be Tenth Fleet. How many ships? What make are they?”

“Fifteen ships, Admiral. Four superdreadnoughts, three battlecruisers, five heavy cruisers, two frigates, and one corvette. IFF is detecting ships from Tenth Fleet as well as the ships we had on sector patrol based out of Ekyinos. The Spear of Tagrun is leading. All the ships appear to be heavily damaged.”

Fifteen? If Tenth Fleet had picked up the sector patrol and folded them into the ranks, then they would have had easily over two hundred ships! No matter. He would not see their sacrifice go in vain. Looking at the map, he saw something! If they could just take advantage of it…

“Give my regards to Admiral Warhelm, and feed him the tactical data. He has the angle on the Harvester! Tell him to leave the Swarm to us, flank speed to the harvester. Give him everything we have on those shields!”

(Main Bridge, BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, Cadra Primaris)

“What is the status of the fleet?”

Slave-Captain Virstina looked up as the Master announced his presence by speaking the moment the doors opened to allow him onto the Main Bridge. She forced down a chuckle at the memory of what he had brought back with him after his ‘shopping trip’ when he decided to play civilian for a while on the station. There was a story there, but it was for another time. Snapping herself back to the present, she nodded to the Master, and said, “Master, the last gunships have returned, and the few who had been damaged have been repaired. We are ready to deploy on your command.”

The Master smiled at her, and said, “Good, good. Any news from the Consortium yet?”

“Sector Administrator Woldmane just sent word. She wishes to speak with you as soon as possible regarding the fleet movements.”

“Very well, open communications.”

Moments later, Woldmane’s face appeared on the main screen. She looked haggard, but that wasn’t unusual, given the confirmed threat that the sector was facing. Everyone already knew that the Coldana system was essentially a write-off. If the X’thari couldn’t be stopped, and soon, then things would get very hairy, very fast, and everyone knew it. The Master nodded grimly as he greeted her. “Sector Administrator. I trust you are reading the reports from Coldana?”

“Yes, it is worse than I feared. A Harvester hasn’t been seen since the last war. The attacks it has already taken would have destroyed a decent sized planet, and yet it remains relatively intact! Even with Tenth Fleet arriving to reinforce Fifteenth Fleet, I do not think it will be enough.”

“It won’t be. However, I have confirmed that there are multiple nomads in system now, all with some of the best sensor suites money can buy. Their six ships should be able to escape the Swarm. Five are Black Star ships, fitted with X’thari drives. They are currently leading the X’thari escort ships on a chase about the system, leaving the heavier ships open. The sixth is a free trader of Imperial make, and equipped with a Transition drive. They are already poised to escape, but have committed to staying until the last Consortium warship is destroyed. I am told that they carry with them messages from every soul on Cordana that wished to send word.”

Woldmane gulped. “That is a heavy burden for a free trader. Where will they fall back to?”

“Last I heard, they would make their way here, to the Cadra System. The Black Star ships will use their anchor drives to escape and evade. We do not know whether the X’thari are able to track and follow ships using anchor drives to their destination, but it would be foolish to believe that they cannot. So, the Black Star ships will be going somewhere isolated, before making their way to a place where there will be plenty of guns to ensure any followers are greeted as they deserve.”

“That is well.” Woldmane sighed. “I wish that the problem could simply be solved with the ships in Coldana, but we must assume that the Harvester and the Swarm will survive, despite the Navy’s best efforts.”

“Indeed, Administrator. Is there any word on reinforcements? The Black Star Navy can aid an evacuation of a single system, and protect refugee craft en route, but we are no match for the X’thari Swarm itself. Not grouped together as they are. There’s simply too many of them.”

“On that note, I have some good news. Thanks to your Nomad networks, the word has gone out quickly that the Swarm has moved once again, and a Harvester has returned to Known Space. This has allowed us to put the Treaty of Helbizore into effect. All major powers will unite to end the X’thari threat to this sector. The Consortium Navy is sending Fifth and Seventh Fleets. The Confederate Navy is sending their Sixth and Twelfth Fleets. The Ihm Navy is sending the Second Great Armada. The Free Worlds Alliance has mobilized the Kul’tiran First Fleet. The only trouble is the Empire. Their navy was ravaged by the Civil War, and they have yet to repair the damage. But they have committed to sparing the Ninth Fleet. The Terran Empress herself asked if the Black Star Navy would be joining the fray.”

“The Black Star Navy will stand with the major powers. Our First Group is already here, and here we will remain. I have given the command for our Fourth Group to join us, as well. They are already on the move towards the nearest Gateway. Once we have confirmed that the Black Star ships currently in Coldana have not been followed, the Fifth Group shall make for the Grathdan Sector, as well.” The Master smiled with grim determination at the look the Administrator gave him, as the entire bridge crew nodded approvingly. “The X’thari are a threat to all life in the galaxy. The sooner we end this threat, the better. Where will the fleet gather?”

“Ah, eh-hem. Sorry, I had expected that to take slightly more negotiation. But since you convinced even the pirates to not make trouble during this time, I guess it was to be expected. At any rate, the fleets will be gathering at Grimshield’s Bane, the closest system to Coldana. Either they will gather, and then plan the attack, or they will be the first line of defense if the Harvester finishes Coldana too soon.”

The Master was about to say something, when alarms sounded. From the sensor station, Lieutenant Barclay called out, “Transition warning! One ship transitioning in. Senor network makes it as an Imperial civilian freighter, Zvezdnoye Nebo-class!”

(Mollen POV)

With an icy calmness that was merely skin deep, I looked to the Administrator, and said, “Administrator, please stay on the line. If this is who I believe it to be, then you will need to hear this, as well.” She nodded in understanding. We both knew who this was, and what their news would be. Turning to the communications station, I called out, “Comms, hail the freighter, and ask them to identify.”

“It is the Fucking Bitch, Admiral. Says she is outbound from the Coldana System, last ship to make it out.”

“Very well, request a copy of the tactical data to be sent to the fleet, while the rest is to be sent to Cadra Primaris. And if her Captain will speak to us, patch her into our conversation.”

The screen split into two parts, with Woldmane on the right and a human woman on the left. I could only see her head and shoulders, but she gave off a feel of being ‘solid’ and ‘well-built’. She looked like someone who had seen too much, but was holding it together because there was a job that needed doing. I nodded to her, and said, “Captain Chernikova, I presume? I am Admiral Mollen, of the Black Star Navy. Sector Administrator Woldmane is on the line with us.”

Chernikova just nodded. She took a second, and then steeled herself. Her voice had a very distinct Russian accent to it, made thicker by the emotions she was clearly trying to hold back. “Admiral, Administrator. I’ll just come out and say it. Coldana has fallen. The Harvester is damaged, but still intact.”

I nodded stiffly. I had expected it to be that way. “I understand. You stayed until the Consortium ships were gone, yes? Can you give us the tactical data? We need to see what went right and what went wrong, if we’re going to have a prayer of destroying that monster.”

Steely eyes locked on to mine. “We have all the sensor readings you could ask for, Admiral. When they knew that it was going to be the X’thari, the guys at the Navy yards offloaded all our cargo and filled us to the brim with sensors and computer databanks. We’re transmitting the sensor data starting from when the X’thari first showed up. Admiral Fullstout sent a personal note after Firebringer failed. The Harvester has multiple shield layers, and the damage caused by Firebringer’s second hit on the Harvester itself clearly did some damage. However, they did not have the time to remove more of the hardware safety locks on any of the hyper-capable ships.”

Raven brought up the note on my HUD, and I quickly reviewed it and the notes she’d made on it. “Hmm. Raven’s preliminary analysis agrees with Fullstout. She says that, if we were able to hit it with more firepower, we could defeat the shields and take down the Harvester. However, the X’thari clearly learned from that attack quickly. We won’t easily get a second shot at ramming multiple shuttles into the thing.”

Chernikova growled. “You can’t mean to say it is hopeless! You, of all people—”

I raised a hand to cut her off. “Indeed. Black Star has overcome long odds before. And we have already committed to helping the Allied Fleet end this threat. But we will not do that by disregarding the tactical realities. This is the data we needed you to bring us, Captain Chernikova. We know that it can be hurt. We know that it can bleed. If it bleeds, then we can kill it. We just have to figure out how.”

I paused, and then said, “There is still time before the Allied Fleet can assemble. For now, why don’t you dock with Thadmere Station? The technicians there will handle downloading the personal messages and other data that Coldana sent with you. Word has already spread that a ship stayed behind to bear witness to the last defiance of the Consortium Navy, and by the time you dock, they’ll learn you left your cargo behind to bring the dying messages of Coldana to the rest of the Consortium. That should earn you some good will with the locals. And I have just transferred ten thousand credits to your ship account, to split between your crew. I think that will buy more than a few drinks, or time with paid companionship, if you desire, to keep your mind off things for a while.”

Chernikova flushed, and was about to say something, when Woldmane cut in, “As Sector Administrator, I am issuing funds from the sector budget. For twenty-four hours after docking, the crew of the Filthy Bitch do not have to pay for any food, lodging, consumables, or services on Thadmere Station. Your docking fees in the Grathdan Sector have been waived in perpetuity, so long as you own your ship. The people of Coldana and the Consortium owe you a great debt for bringing their final words to their people.”

The Russian captain took a breath, and nodded. “Thank you, Admiral, Administrator. I am sure my crew and I will be more than happy to take you up on those generous offers. At the moment, however, it feels like we ran from a fight, and none of us much care for that, not when so many other people fought and died, knowing they couldn’t win.”

“Captain, I am telling you this, and I want you to tell it to your crew. Those men and women you watched lay down their lives were dead the moment the X’thari raised their ugly heads and decided to move on Coldana. There was no power in the known galaxy that could have saved them. One lightly-armed freighter would make absolutely no difference in that. What that freighter did do, however, was bring out the will of the people of Coldana and the Consortium Navy, along with the sensor data that will ensure that those deaths were not in vain. They fought with everything they had, knowing that, through you, their valor would be remembered, and that their deaths would be avenged by the intel they fought and died to give you to bring to us. Do you understand, Captain?”

Chernikova straightened up slightly as I slipped into a command voice at the end, there, but she simply took a deep breath, and nodded once, not saying anything. There was a fire in her eyes, and I didn’t doubt that the station’s bars were going to get very, very short of alcohol in the near future, but with any luck, she wouldn’t slip into the far more destructive cycle of guilt. This game was real enough that ideas of survivor’s guilt were actually applicable here, especially if you truly lived the game.

“Very well, then. Proceed to Thadmere station, Captain, and good job.” I offered a salute to her, before closing the channel. Turning my attention to the Sector Administrator, I said, “My people will analyze the sensor data in depth. May I impose upon you to use the FTL comms to transmit the data to the other allied fleets, so that they have time to begin their analysis while we are forming up?”

“Of course. I may not be a military leader, but I will not allow the Grathdan Sector to fall without doing anything I can to stop it.”

I nodded with grim appreciation. “That is all any of us can do, Administrator. Do our utmost, exhaust all possibilities, and hope and pray that it is enough. Admiral Mollen, out.”

(Virtual Room in NERV HQ)

“What is the status of Coldera?”

“X’thari drones are swarming the planet. The fighting is going street to street. Consortium Marines, local garrisons and law enforcement, and civilians are all pitching in. They are trying to bleed the Swarm as much as possible before the Harvester gets there.”

Isaac nodded to the gamemaster. “Work with the main AI, see if there’s some way we can record their actions in-game so that if someone comes to Coldana after the Harvester leaves, they’ll be able to know what happened. Morgan would kill me if I didn’t at least try to give her that kind of marketing material.”

“You’re damn right I would!”

Isaac smiled as he turned and looked over to Morgan as she entered the virtual room. “Hey babe. Didn’t expect you over here so soon. Something come up?”

Morgan gave him a kiss on the cheek, all that they could really get away with at work, with everyone watching, and said, “Yeah, the Marketing department really wants copies of the space battles around Coldana for promotional materials. They got some very good mileage out of the Imperial Civil War battles, and this could build interest in the Consortium. Which would be good, since the Consortium is currently ‘underutilized’, according to the analytics department, along with the Ihm Imperium.”

Isaac scoffed. “Yeah, I’m sure that has nothing to do with the fact that both those factions are so heavily weighted toward being single-species groups, just like the Terran Empire is human-weighted. And the fact that the majority of the player base is going with Human avatars means that trying to play in the Consortium or the Imperium makes them basically second-class citizens, at best, though they’re more likely to wind up as slaves, like some of the players who’ve started there have already found out.”

Morgan shrugged dismissively. “You know that isn’t how market analysts think. They don’t have statistics for how things feel, and they want to try and have equal ‘engagement’ across all faction lines, otherwise things skew their precious numbers.”

“Fair enough. They don’t believe anything that isn’t in their spreadsheets, even if it is immediately obvious to the rest of us. Fortunately, the way the game is set up, they can’t badger the front office to try and make us ‘rebalance’ things to make Gauz or Ihm more powerful to try and attract interest from powergamers and even out the ‘engagement’ numbers. Dreams Amongst the Stars is designed and built as a ‘hardcore virtual reality massively multiplayer online roleplaying game’. People are starting to get that it means hardcore on the roleplaying elements. Everyone who has had the biggest success in game have dived head first into the roleplaying aspects, and that’s opened up everything else for them.”

Morgan nodded. “I know the theory, but how is it working out in practice?”

“Well, ever since our Black Star friend went and shared some of his secrets to success on the forums, we’ve seen a dramatic uptick in people treating the game world like a living world, and they’ve been getting advancements in a lot of different areas because of it. We have more Nomad ship captains now than at any time previously, and there are Nomads working their way up through several different organizations.”

“Good, I can run with that the next time the jackals try and show me numbers that say we need to boost one group or another to encourage casuals and powergamers to increase engagement. Now, I know there’s in game and out of game footage of the last stand of the Consortium Navy above Coldara, but is there any way we can get some kind of in game record of what is happening on the ground?”

“Isaac, the AI just came back with a report! Looks like in-game elements have already thought of a way to make a final record of what happens on the planet!”

Isaac whirled to look at his subordinate, a grin on his face. “Excellent! I love it when problems are solved for me, before I even have to ask. Now, what did they do, and how will it work?”

“Well, the entire population of the planet was stranded for a few weeks, knowing they were cut off from everyone. They decided to make a data bunker near the capitol, just in case something bad happened. They got all the mining equipment on the planet together, and drilled until they hit bedrock, and built themselves a datacenter, with hardwired connections leading to the surface. Kind of a black box, in case the worst happened. Indications are that they mainly did it as a way to keep a lot of workers busy with a massive technical project that had to be completed fast, meaning they were too busy to worry. But the datacenter is complete.”

“Brilliant! And are those fighting the X’thari sending reports to the datacenter?”

“The ones capable of doing so are. They’re recording everything, so that there is a record of how the planet fought to the last. When a position gets overrun, the last thing they are transmitting is ‘Remember us.’ That’s going on all over the planet.”

Morgan whistled appreciatively. “Damn, that’s a good marketing campaign. ‘Remember Coldara’. Has a ‘Remember the Alamo’ kind of feel to it.”

Isaac nodded. “It should. This is going to be one of those famous last stands, where the objective is just to slow the enemy down long enough for everyone else to get ready for the true battle. Same with the space fights. There’s some really inspirational stuff there, pulls on the heartstrings if you play it right.”

“Right, that will be perfect for a rallying cry, especially when someone finds out where the X’thari are coming from. What else are people doing in game for this?”

“Well, every faction is putting together an allied fleet, aiming to take on the Swarm. They’re going to take a while to get organized, but this is going to be the largest space battle anyone has ever tried to put into a game before. We’re talking levels that put the Star Wars movies to shame, even if you roll them all up into one huge battle.”

“So, how long do they have to prepare before the Harvester moves on?”

“Well, looking at the data from the Consortium’s last attack, you can see that the Harvester has been…”