(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, TheDespoiler, Guardian, GunKitty, Chummer, Inquisitor, Lizard, RedFox, SemiSolidSnake, ElfMama, Not_the_Face!, Anonymous3, Anonymous4, Anonymous7, Anonymous9, AggregatorOfSorrows, M.Mollen, WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot, DigDug, BigGunn, Dolcett, Starwatcher, Backlog, DarkAvariel, Knocker, Hullu_Kapteeni, GrimDark, BloodForTheBloodGod, Queen’s_Bitch, BackDat@55Up, DoYouEvenDPS?, MajorTom, Parca, and DarkAngel are in the chat.

DigDug: What the hell are these starburst patterns showing up all over the place?

Anonymous7: What starburst patterns?

DigDug: I’m seeing them show up more and more all over the Empire. Some kind of weird eight-pointed star with a black circle in the middle.

Inquisitor: Such heresy!

BloodForTheBloodGod: BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!

Dolcett: I’ve seen the ones you’re talking about, Dig. Not quite the same as what Inquisitor and BFTBG are on about, but definitely similar.

MacD: Well sure, that’s the link to the real world, but where is it coming from in game? I mean, there hasn’t been anything like that so far, right up until that shit at Sol happened.

Guardian: Well…

Parca: Heh.

DoYouEvenDPS?: Wait. Are you saying that you guys knew something about this?

BackDat@55Up: And you didn’t tell us?

M.Mollen: And why should they?

Number5Alive: So, you’ve just been hoarding secrets like this? Not cool, man!

Anonymous3: Seriously! If we had known about this stuff, we could have prepared for it! I lost a year’s progression, in game, because the clan I was working for got wiped out on Pluto!

l33tpally: Yeah, I mean you gotta share that stuff with the rest of us, man?

M.Mollen: No, I really don’t.

l33tpally: WHAT?

M.Mollen: Did I stutter? No, I don’t have to share anything with you. And you don’t have to share anything with me. The fact that, sometimes, I CHOOSE to share things I learn with others means that I’m a great guy, not that I have any obligation to do so.

Anonymous4: And how is that fair?

M.Mollen: Consider it part of my rewards for not sitting on my ass and waiting for things to happen. I didn’t do anything that the rest of you couldn’t have done. You just didn’t try.

Lizard: Hey, Mollen, don’t listen to those haters. They’re just jealous that you did things first, and didn’t give them cheat codes and walkthroughs to follow behind.

M.Mollen: Thank you, Lizard.

Lizard: But, like, if you were feeling generous, do you have any inside knowledge on what is going on in the Imperium? This place has been getting… strange, lately.

M.Mollen: Ah, yes, I guess it would be, since the Imperium’s Empress went and did something colossally stupid.

SEA-TAC_Sweetie: What does the light show in the Imperium have to do with this?

GrimDark: Ugh. That level of ignorance hurts, Sweetie.

Inquisitor: Now, now. Better to be in ignorance of Chaos than fall prey to it.

TheDespoiler: The Eye’s opening was the scream of a newborn Goddess, born of the Ihm, and made in their image, and She will rule them forever. Their souls belong to the Dark Goddess newest of the Three turned Four, and none shall change that.

GrimDark: Damn it to the abyss. That means…

Inquisitor: Yes, there are more out there.

GrimDark: Gunkitty, you make custom weapons, right? Have you made a bolter before?

Gunkitty: Sure. Any specific pattern in mind?

GrimDark: Can you get a Mark II Cawl?

Gunkitty: Yeah, want the custom ‘skin’?

GrimDark: Indeed.

Gunkitty: No problem.

DarkAvariel: I’ll take a Condemnor version, if you can.

Gunkitty: Not a problem, Sister.

l33tpally: What in the HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

M.Mollen: They are referencing the ‘inspiration’ for some of the recent events, pally.

DarkAngel: Speaking of which, I wonder why we’re only hearing about these things now.

M.Mollen: Because the other Three haven’t been able to reach out to any of the people in Known Space.

Anonymous7: But if they’re gods, they should be able to do anything, right?

BloodForTheBloodGod: Their power is everywhere the Warp is, but they need hands in the Materium to carry out their works.

M.Mollen: There’s plenty of reasons why things are different, and why they are continuing to be different. But the primary one is the fact that there was no Dark Age of Technology.

Inquisitor: I see. It begins to make sense, now.

Backlog: If it is making sense to you, can you clue us in? Because I’m seriously not getting it.

Inquisitor: In the game, the Dark Age of Technology included a massive human diaspora, where they spread across the entire galaxy.

GrimDark: Without the exodus, humanity was not exposed directly to the Ruinous Powers.

Lizard: So, how much do we actually know about these Four? Can I just go buy a game sourcebook to read up on them?

M.Mollen: No. Real-world lawyers would come down hard if something like that happened. As for what we know? That’s fairly limited. But suspect? That we can do.

Lizard: Fine, what is known about this Dark Goddess, and how can I get out from under this whole mess? The Imperium is going nuts with this new religious fervor sweeping through the higher castes.

TheDespoiler: I was there, in Chaos’s realm, when She awoke. And I heard the words She spoke. She is born of pride, and the fool Empress has played her part, bringing the Ihm into Her service. There is no hope to resist. Embrace the Eightfold Path.

Knocker: Wait, you were actually there, in Chaotic Space? How the hell did you get there? The Chaos Brigade was no where close to the rifts when they were open!

M.Mollen: You act like ripping a hole in the universe that will spread across a sector is the only way to access that realm.

Knocker: It isn’t?

M.Mollen: If you had been exploring, you would know the answer already, but no, there are ways to access Chaotic space, and other places. But such things are likely to be considered ‘Lost Tech’.

Anonymous3: If they’re Lost, how do you know this?

M.Mollen: Because what is Lost can be found. And sometimes it is Lost not because it does not work, but because people in high positions thought there were other ways to go.

DarkAngel: Think VHS vs. Betamax, and you get the idea.

M.Mollen: Exactly. Or Laserdisc vs. DVD. At any rate, TheDespoiler was there, because I outfitted his ships in return for test data, allowing him to be there.

Golddigger: Damn, just how many pies do you have your fingers in, Mollen?

M.Mollen: More than you could possibly know.

(Psy Power Training Grounds, Soldier’s Dawn Black Star Marine Corps Base, Star’s Reach)

BANG!

Soldier’s Dawn was the name the Black Star Marines had elected to call their new base and training facility located over the access point to the Enrichment Center. The name had been chosen by a poll of the Marines and their families. After discarding names like Basey McBaseface from the preliminaries, Soldier’s Dawn won in the second round of polls, narrowly beating out Bastard’s Rise (despite the fact that the surrounding area was rather flat, with no rises anywhere nearby).

The Base was home of the Sixth Company of the Black Star Marines. After the Battle of the Rift, General Khan decided that a restructuring was needed. The main companies of the Corps remained the same, but the shipboard detachments to the varies Navy ships were reorganized into Fifth Company, instead of just being uncategorized parts of the Corps.

Sixth Company was the training and reserve company, based on Star’s Reach. This was where new recruits would be trained up, and where reserves would be stationed until they were needed, as well as being a primary defense force for the planet itself. With the rate that people kept joining up with Black Star, we’d probably need to go with a seventh company before long.

That wasn’t the reason I was on the training grounds, of course. I needed to train my abilities in someplace nice and isolated, and you couldn’t get more isolated than the Psy Power Training Grounds. As a rule, Black Star didn’t place too much emphasis on psy powers, either in the Navy or the Marines.

BANG!

This wasn’t an issue of neglect, but of practicality. Simply put, most psy powers were not that useful in group combat, or were made redundant by technology. Fireballs, lightning bolts, healing, body enhancement, and even mindlinking were all useful things for an individual, sure. No one argued that there weren’t uses for psy powers.

However, there were weapons that were more destructive, and didn’t fatigue the user as quickly. There were nanite medpacks that could heal better than most healing Psy, and armor enhancements that could do as well or better than body enhancement Psy. And the mindlink? A tactical HUD and battle network did it better, without the invasiveness of someone’s thoughts echoing in your head.

It was the old adage of using the right tool for the right job. Most times, the technological tools the Marines had were better for the task at hand. Certainly, the Navy did not get much use out of psy powers. The number of individuals in Known Space that could affect individuals or ships at the distances space combat took place at was effectively zero.

BANG!

Well, it had been zero. The recent changes had called that number into question. The question of whether the Empress or myself could use psy powers on a tactical level in space combat was still open. We were, after all, getting used to our new abilities. And the knowledge that there were other groups in undiscovered space made the possibility of finding individuals who could do that much more likely.

Even if that wasn’t the case, the Black Star Company was not one to go leaving useful tools on the table. Even if there were better tools for the job, the Company ran on the idea of ‘better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it’. Sure, there weren’t many situations where a fireball would be better than a flamethrower, or a grenade, but there might be, so those who had the ability were trained, so they had the options.

That was why the Training Grounds existed. Of course, it wasn’t limited to the Marines. Anyone in the Navy, or in the other areas of the Black Star Company, who had the Talent was allowed to use the grounds. Actually, the ‘civilians’ in the Company got the most use out of the grounds, since they had jobs where psy powers would make a more tangible difference.

Today, however, the grounds were empty, because, frankly, I didn’t know the limits of my powers yet, and I was still working on controlling some of the more… chaotic powers that had become available to me. Raven, Cali, and Jaynie were the only ones allowed on the field with me, though Shearah, Sheila, Carissa, and Sana were all in a nearby bunker. After all, the ones on the field with me were the ones that could come back, even if they caught a temporary case of being dead, either because they were just inhabiting a shell, like Raven, or because they were Nomads, like me and the girls. I wasn’t taking chances here.

BANG!

At the moment, we were doing a fairly non-destructive test. Shielding abilities were relatively common amongst psy users. However, they were rarely good for more than one or two hits before they broke down. Great for an ‘oh shit’ button when you realized that you were suddenly in need of cover, or if you saw that someone had lobbed a grenade at your feet, but not great for keeping you alive in a gunfight over open ground. Or in the open air.

That was important, because the geniuses I had working for me had just come out with a new armor set for people who needed protection, but weren’t getting the full suite of upgrades that were being rolled out for the Marines, the Degurechaff Airborne Assault Armor. Like the Marines’ new Mark X Tactical Power Armor, the Degurechaff Armor was designed for increased defense and assault capability. However, while the Mark X was bigger, heavier, and boasted more combat boosting potential to go with the augmentations the Marines wearing it would receive, it was limited in terms of mobility, stuck on the ground unless the Marine used a specially designed jump pack to make short powered leaps.

The Degurechaff Armor, however, was a completely different beast entirely. Closer to the Front Line Master Suit the Empire used for their Imperial Marines in design, it was 5% larger than the older suit, using the increased mass to elevate the enhancements in the suit to true power armor status, giving increased strength, speed, reaction time, and agility, while at the same time slightly increasing the defensive properties. But the true focal point of the armor was the Flight Module, allowing the wearer to maintain powered flight for far longer than the jump packs of current Marine armor would allow.

BANG!

Of course, flying in the air made one a target, where speed and maneuverability were life. But predictive algorithms and volume of fire could still take out even a skilled pilot in even a fighter craft. Except that even interceptors had shields, to shrug off grazing blows. Shield systems there simply wasn’t room for in a man-sized suit of armor. Anyone in the Degurechaff armor was relying wholly on their own abilities to keep from getting taken down by typical anti-vehicle weapons.

So, while it was certainly an unprecedented system, and the creator, Doctor Adelheid von Schugel, was undoubtedly a genius, it wasn’t practical for rank and file military concerns. Fortunately for the half-mad scientist, I had happened to be looking into getting some new armor. Being able to fly was, well, definitely something I was interested in.

Which, in the end, is why I was here, now, letting Jaynie shoot me with ever-increasing calibers of weaponry, all while dividing my energy between flying and maintaining a psychic shield to keep the attacks from getting through. The systems in the armor were impressive, without doubt, but I was concerned with reliability and durability. It didn’t matter if a watch was so precise that its finely honed clockwork was perfect down to the millisecond if it was so delicate that the slightest jostle would send it out of alignment and cause the whole thing to fail. We were, literally, stress testing things, to see if I could use the armor in combat situations.

BANG!

Type-95 Degurechaff Airborne Assault Armor

Type

Power Armor

Rank

Super Rare

Made by the Black Star Company, the Type-95 is an experimental prototype armor model designed to be a trans-atmospheric assault armor for shock troops entering behind enemy lines. The Type-95 is designed for ship-to-ship, ship-to-ground, and ground-to-ship operations in three dimensions. Environmental seals allow the wearer to operate in hard vacuum or underwater to depths of 9000 meters. This also provides complete HAZMAT protection for as long as the dimensional air supply lasts (approximately 336 hours). Integrated nutrition and water supplies using dimensional space to keep the wearer alive for up to 672 hours. The same technology also allows for waste reclamation and disposal without compromising suit integrity. Psy-conductive wiring extends throughout the armor, allowing the user to better use abilities based on PP.

+100 to all Physical Attributes

+20% Reaction speed

150 Physical Armor, 150 Energy Armor

+40% Physical Resistance

+40% Energy Resistance

Power Supply – Runs on dimensional storage batteries, 1008 hour duration.

Life Support – Offers full HAZMAT support for 336 hours, basic nutrition for 672 hours, and environmental conditioning for 1008 hours.

Stealth Suite – Polychromatic coating gives wearer passive +20 effective rank with Stealth. When, combined with stealth settings allows the wearer to enter full stealth mode for up to 20 minutes. 1 minute recharge time.

Psy-conduction – All Psy Powers are 10% more effective, cost 10% less to use.

Flight Systems – Allows wearer to fly at speeds up to (CHA+WIS) m/s. Speed reduced in water. Requires 25 PP per minute to maintain flight.

Prototype: Actual results and tolerances may vary depending on conditions. Damage to armor may cause unknown conditions.

The stats of the armor were impressive, on paper. All told, it was a solid improvement over the FLMS I had been wearing any time I was going out on actual missions. However, that was all on paper. In experiments, it looked good, but there were power fluctuations and sensor drains that the team were still trying to fix as testing continued.

This, combined with the heavy PP requirements for actual flight meant that the number of people who could use the suit at all were not especially high, not in a combat environment. Sure, it was just under half my PP regen, as it stood now, and running that at the same time as trying to keep a psychic shield up wouldn’t drain me too badly. Worst case, I could probably keep flying for a few hours while under attack. The more PP I used to attack, however, the shorter my stamina for combat would become. And I was a fairly powerful psy user. Other people, who didn’t have my level of regeneration, would be struggling to fly and maintain a shield, much less fight at the same time.

BANG!

However, it made me the perfect one to test the tolerances the armor needed to perform under. The fact that I was a Nomad, and wouldn’t die even if I was killed, simply made it more logical. I had to keep telling myself that as I watched Jayne lining up another shot, this time with a shoulder-mounted anti-armor weapon.

She was clearly enjoying this more than a little. I was going to have to punish her when we got done with this. Still, the increases to my power were noticeable. We had just moved through the anti-vehicle weaponry, after all. I’ll admit that Jaynie wasn’t the only one interested in seeing what I could withstand now.

Jaynie aimed with the launcher. My enhanced senses could see her trigger finger tighten, the weapon glowing red in my HUD, signifying the threat it was. She started to pull the trigger, and I braced myself for impact…

Nothing.

I looked at my HUD, and was surprised to see the weapon flashing green. Friendly weapon. Jaynie looked just as surprised as I was. As one, we both turned to look at Raven, the only one who could have stopped the test.

Raven looked unapologetic. “Sorry to interrupt your fun, but there is a priority message from System Command. Refugees from the Ihm Imperium are coming through the Gateway.”

I sighed. “Well, guess the testing is over for today. Raven, approve the Type-95 to move to a production model. I’ll keep the prototype for my own until it is ready.”

"As you wish, Sir."

(Dock 53, Mollen’s Rest Station, Star’s Reach system)

There were three space stations in orbit of Star’s Reach. There were plenty more orbital platforms, but only a few of them were manned. Most of those were little more than maintenance hubs for crews maintaining the defense satellites and weapon platforms. But there were only three proper space stations.

The first was Hephaestus Station, the primary shipyards and orbital factories that had been built early on after we had taken control of the system. If anyone bothered to ask me which the most important of the three stations was, I would immediately point them to Hephaestus. It was, after all, the key to everything else that happened here. It was the core of the system’s growing industry. Sure, there were factories growing on the surface, but they wouldn’t have existed without Hephaestus building the parts they needed to set up.

Second, and the one that most people would think to be of the greatest importance, was Blackstone Station. That station was the headquarters for the Black Star Navy not just in Star’s Reach, but in the entire galaxy. More than that, it was also the core of the system’s defense, should it come to that. The station was completely military, with the only civilians allowed on board being either family, or those who had been specially vetted to serve in the support roles.

Third, and finally, there was Mollen’s Rest, the civilian station. By the time I had gotten around to approving the plans, it had already been named by my people, so there wasn’t much I could do about it. This was the administrative center for the Star’s Reach colony, and the primary headquarters for the Black Star Company as a whole. Needless to say, most of those who didn’t think that Blackstone was the most important structure in the system focused their attention on the Rest.

Since refugees were a civilian matter, rather than a military one, System Control had directed the refugee ships to the civilian station. If the ships had been defectors from the military rather than civilians, it would have been a different matter, but they weren’t, so it wasn’t. But that did bring up the very pertinent question of why these refugees showed up here.

Even if the entire Ihm Imperium was going up in flames, there should have been other ports that people would have chosen when fleeing for their lives from the insane Empress and her followers. Star’s Reach was moderately famous, sure, because we had been in the news a good bit over the last few years, but it wasn’t like we were a common port of call, either. Most people who came here were looking to get something they couldn’t get through other means, or they were looking to skirt a few laws. Refugees went to the bigger nations, the ones that had experience helping refugees.

But not these ones. No, they had apparently dialed straight from the Ihm Imperium to Star’s Reach, given the data we got from the gateway. At least they didn’t have tagalongs, like some of the refugees that had tried to make it to Confederate space. There was one group that had been chased by an Ihm navy destroyer through the Desolace gateway. That was a messy affair all the way around, and put the Confederates on high alert.

Our new guests had four ships. Well, depending on how you defined ‘ship’. They were all over the place, really. An in-system passenger shuttle, an armed merchantman, a heavy freighter, and a mining vessel that had a jury-rigged connector so it could haul a cargo container. They were all old models, and the merchantman, the only ship with conventional weapons, looked as though it had been through hell. The engineering team viewing the screens were of the opinion that the thing was only being held together by sheer force of will.

There were seven hundred Ihm on the four ships. Seven hundred people on ships that were designed to carry no more than forty. The people-hauler was the one with the highest rated passenger loadout, being designed for twenty-five passengers. The freighter was rated for five, and the merchantman for nine. The little mining craft was designed for a crew of one.

I shook my head as I looked at the merchantman which had just docked. It was named the Frivolous Enterprise, and was an Imperial civilian ship from before the last war. The class was supposed to be solid and reliable, able to keep going through anything, provided you kept up on the maintenance. That it survived was clearly a firefight to get here said there was more to those stories than just marketing. That it had gotten here without exploding, leaking radiation, or any one of a few other dozen ways it could have ended up killing its crew and ninety-one passengers was a testament to the crew’s skill.

As the Frivolous Enterprise powered down, there was a screeching, grinding noise. Slowly, the cargo bay doors started to swing open. Then, they caught with a sound of metal wrenching against metal and the scream of tortured gears. The scream rose to a crescendo, and then suddenly went silent, just as the door began to fall forward, crashing to the deck with a horrific bang as the thing literally fell off the hull!

Frowning, I couldn’t help but mutter to Raven, who was standing beside me. “These people are impressive, I’ll give them that. Looking at the damage alone, I can’t imagine how they possibly survived, much less got through the gateway.”

The lead Ihm off the ship at least had the good grace to look embarrassed, if not ashamed, at the state of her craft. Seeing me standing out in front of onlookers examining her ship, she walked up and offered a low bow in the traditional Ihm style. I noticed that the rest of the Ihm aboard remained on the ship, watching on intently, but not stepping foot off the ship. “Lord of the Black Star Clan, I am Captain Sirzah Dhas of the Ikkae Liberation Front, and Ship Master of the Frivolous Venture. My crew and I ask for Sanctuary amongst your clan, and for protection to be offered to those we shepherded here.”

Raven whispered in my ear. “The Ikkae Liberation Front is a separatist movement originating on the planet Ikkae III. Stated goals are the ending of the monarchy, the abolishment of the caste system, and putting power in the hands of the workers. They first appeared shortly after the start of the last Ihm-Terran war, leading to concerns amongst the Ihm military that they were sponsored by the Terran Empire. Whether they currently have ties to the Empire is unknown.”

I nodded curtly, before looking back to the captain. “Ship Master, why do you come to my domain, seeking shelter, in a ship that has been through fire and battle, leading others that are packed overfull of civilians? I would know what trouble you flee before answering your question, as I have a duty to my people, first and foremost, as I’m sure you understand.”

Sirzah remained bowing. “The Empress has gone mad with envy and pride, tearing open the sky in her quest to prove how ‘superior’ the Ruling Caste is. Every day, the rift in space grows larger, and foul creatures from that realm have begun manifesting in the worlds closest to the rift. The Ikkae system is only a light year from the rift, the closest Gateway to the Eye of Despair. The Warrior Caste fights amongst itself, while the Merchant Caste begins getting ever more bold in the ways they flaunt their power and influence.”

She paused, and then said, “The servants of the Mad Empress are different, somehow. Rulers that have never shown psy power before now wield it as though it were second nature to them. Their Warriors grow huge and hulking, sometimes becoming misshapen as if they were the product of some flawed breeding. And there are creatures on the world that I have never seen before.”

“For years, we have tried to free the people of Ikkae from the Ruling caste’s oppression, but now horrors run through the nest cities, ravaging those in the undernests. The Rulers do nothing to stop it. Worse, if we try and defend ourselves, they send in their misshapen ones and burn out nests as a lesson to others. I have seen camera drones following the monsters around, filming what happens.”

I nodded slowly. “That explains plenty about why you chose to gather all you could and leave, Captain. However, it does not tell me why you came to me.”

The Ihm paused and took a breath. “We have heard about the exploits of the Black Star Company, and the Black Star Navy. When the former Warleader denounced the Admiralty’s decisions following the Second Battle of Coldana, it sent shock waves through the Imperium. When she disappeared, it was widely thought that she had been taken and silenced by the Empress. Then, we heard that she had joined the Black Star Navy, and had fought and won honors despite being exiled from the Imperium, it was a second blow, especially to the Ruling caste.”

“The Ikkae Liberation Front is all but spent. We had grown to number over six thousand active fighters, trained and ready, but most of our people and weapons that we have been stockpiling in preparation for our eventual fight we were forced to use against the horrors hunting the undernests. Now, we number only thirty. The rest died defending the tunnels, or buying time for us to take the ships we used for smuggling weapons and load them up with as many of the surviving families of our people that we could fit. The four ships you see are the only ones that survived out of the ten we launched.”

“My crews and I are wanted criminals in the Imperium. Some of us have open warrants in other areas, as well, because of our business. We don’t want to risk being placed in a Confederate jail, or an Imperial slave camp. We’d rather stick with those we rescued, and rebuild, so that we have a chance to take back Ikkae, and the rest of the Imperium. Failing that, we want to survive, so at least something of the Ihm will live through this untainted by the Empress’s madness.”

I nodded slowly. “And you had heard that Star’s Reach and the Black Star Company did not care who you are or what you may have done, so long as you follow the rules within our domain. Very well, then. I can agree to giving you Sanctuary, and allowing your group to become residents of Star’s Reach. But you will all need to undergo testing, to prove that you have not been corrupted by the energies of the chaotic space.”

Sirzah started to interject, but I cut her off. “Believe me when I say that I have information on the realm the Empress forced her way into that you do not. I know the dangers of that realm better than you, and I won’t have any of that corruption on my world. The quarantine and testing is non-negotiable. If you dislike it, you can get back on your ship and fly elsewhere.”

The Captain didn’t like it, that much was obvious, but she didn’t have to. With resignation, she nodded her head, once. I nodded in return. “Good. Then, you have a choice before you. You and yours can either become transient residents in one of the settlements on the surface of Star’s Reach, which would give you the fewest restrictions, but the bare minimum of aid from the Company beyond ensuring that your basic nutritional needs are met. Or, you could become citizens of Star’s Reach, binding yourselves to the Black Star Company. You would have more restrictions on what you can do, but you would also have the Black Star company helping you rebuild.”

I paused to let her process those two options, and said, “But I’ll warn you, the Black Star Company isn’t looking to create regime change in different star polities for fun. We only engage in such things when we’re attacked. This also means that we may restrict people from traveling certain places if they look like they are going to cause trouble that will affect the Company. So, if you are dead set on revenge, then you will want to be transients. If, however, you want to have a place to rebuild your community, well, citizenship has responsibilities attached to it, but it also has rights and privileges.”

I looked from her, to the people on the ship, still watching our conversation, and back to her. “But I’m sure you don’t want to make this decision alone. Return to your ship, Captain. You have one week while the engineers do a ‘structural review’ to make your decision. Of course, the sooner a decision is made, the sooner we can start unloading those passengers and finding proper accommodations for them. Wouldn’t want to drop citizens-to-be in a tent city, and giving transients a taste of citizen life only to rip it away would be cruel. So, take all the time you need, but not too much of it. I’ll be waiting for your decision.”

(Conference Room, Blackstone Station, Star’s Reach system)

The conference room was crowded, with many of the top people in the Black Star Navy and Black Star Marine Corps gathered here. The reason, of course, was to talk about the latest changes to the galaxy, and figuring out how we were going to keep up with the changes. And we truly needed to upgrade our forces. The Marines were an effective fighting force, but some of the new threats were far more powerful than they were. And the Navy currently had a grand total of zero ships that could enter Dark Space or Chaotic Space, which left avenues of attack that enemies could use to outflank us.

Of course, there were some people who were questioning why a mercenary company needed to worry about stuff like that. We could simply slip by unnoticed, right? That kind of thinking was short-sighted, however. It put us at the whims of the powers that be. If, say, a horde of super-powerful aliens spilled out of chaotic space and wanted to try and kill or enslave anyone they came across, just being a mercenary company wouldn’t be any protection if they set their sights on you. Better to have a force that could make anyone take a step back and wonder if they really wanted this fight.

Of course, it wasn’t just paranoia. There were threats out there, and we either had to rise above or fall before them. The last time someone questioned my decision to augment the Black Star Company’s defensive forces, I simply quoted from The Art of War.

Sun Tzu said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.

Thus, the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.

Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.

The Navy and Marines were both the sword and shield of the Company, and all the people under my banner. I wasn’t going to leave their protection, or my own, up to the simple whims of the galaxy. So, the first step in protecting them was to make it so we could not be defeated.

At the moment, we had a ton of offensive firepower. We could kill anything that came across our scanners, if we wanted to. But we were not able to withstand attacks that our potential enemies could launch against us. That was unacceptable.

“So, what is the timeline for implementation on all the upgrades to the Black Star Marines?”

General Khan stood, and said, “As you know, after lengthy discussion, we’ve come up with a list of recommended improvements to the Marines. These will be a mix of genetic improvements, and improvements to weapons and armor to accommodate their new abilities. All told, the biological upgrades will be very extensive. However, during the process of working with the Science division, we have also come up with a more streamlined suite of enhancements, which could be used for those who aren’t expected to undergo the full Marine enhancements.”

I nodded. “All right, that sounds good, in theory. Let’s start with the full Marine upgrade kit. What all is in the kit, and how long will it take for the units to be fully augmented?”

“All right, first, the most noticeable change will be an increase in size. Average human Black Star Marine will be roughly 2.4 meters tall, and 340 kilograms in weight, without their armor. This is necessary for the other augmentations, like more durable skeletal structure, redundant critical organs, like the second heart, and so on. They will have increased muscle mass and increased strength, speed, agility, and endurance from a standard human. Obviously, these are average numbers. Ihm Marines will also see similar increases.”

“Before you go on, General, what about physiological differences between the sexes? I know there was some concern about that, considering we were using genetic manipulation. Twenty percent of the human Black Star Marines are female, and I’m not turning my back on my people.”

“Yes, sir. The answer is that, while it is true that the average human female is going to be forty to sixty percent weaker, and perhaps ten percent slower than the average male, the kind of women who elect to go into the Marines are superior to the average. Currently, our female Marines are roughly ten to fifteen percent weaker and three percent slower than the average male Marines. However, when you look at them as a part of the whole, you find that they make up much of the thirtieth to fortieth percentile in physical ability, but many of them are in the eightieth and ninetieth percentiles for combat skills.”

“With regards to the modifications, female Marines will still likely come in at 2.3 meters in height, and 275 kilograms in mass. While this is a noticeable difference, it is not outside the acceptable limits. However, we have noted that, in simulations, we are seeing a likelihood of increased psychic abilities amongst all Marines, but especially in the female Marines. It is likely that they will be able to use whatever powers they awaken to in order to bridge the gap. However, training will be problematic.”

I leaned back in my chair. “Suggestions?”

“Continue with the upgrade procedures, but have those who show talent with psychic abilities be placed in special subunits for training, and they can then be embedded in squads to bolster their abilities. We can treat it like specialist ratings from our world’s military. This way, the ‘psykers’, as some of the troops are calling them, will be part of the team, while still getting the training they need.”

“Approved.”

“In that case, then we move to the non-biological upgrades. These would be mostly cybernetic in nature. Many are already existent in the galaxy at large, such as ocular implants to improve vision, or provided alternate vision modes, things like that. Others can be handled by modifications of existing technology. Marines will need to have a mind-machine interface implant in order to link with their armor. While the proposed armor will still function at some level without it, we’re expecting to be using the link in order to bring out its full effectiveness.”

“All right, I can see that. And, since your average marines are going to be a helluvalot bigger and stronger than they currently are, you’re going to be needing new armor to fit them. Probably new weapons, too, right?” The General nodded. “Any more high points in the Marine upgrades?”

“Yes, Sir. There will be implants that use body processes to manufacture, store, and administer combat drugs under certain scenarios. Essentially, an enhanced version of adrenaline, and released under the same circumstances. The Science teams have also developed nanohive implants, which build, store, and maintain swarms of nanophage nanites inside the Marine’s bloodstream, with the goal of hunting hostile nanites and pathogens, like an enhanced immune system. That, combined with other enhancements, will make Marines effectively immune to most known toxins, diseases, and nanoweapons.

“All right, then. Before we move to the new gear, what is this second level of augmentation you’re considering, for those who don’t go with the full Marine treatment?”

“Well, the Marines are going to be combat troops, pure and simple. However, we were talking with some of the ship commanders, and the special operations groups, like you had stationed on some of the original Black Star Ships, like the Shadowdancer, could be upgraded as well. Nothing as extreme as the Marines, but it would greatly increase their effectiveness.”

“What did you come up with?”

“Several profiles. The basic would be enhanced speed, endurance, and agility. Not to the same degree as Marines, but these people would still be ‘normal’ size, for their races. Basically, a mix of biological and cybernetic enhancements, which would also include the combat drug and nanophage enhancements.”

“Reasoning?”

“Sir, right tool for the right job. Army is best at holding ground. Marines are best at taking it. Operators are best at slipping behind enemy lines and slitting the commander’s throat. Sure, Army and Marines can trade jobs, but that doesn’t change the fact that both groups have different focuses on their skill sets. Operators are typically in too small numbers to try and take and hold ground. It is the same as the problems the Navy faced during the Imperial Civil War, and the Battle of Nuevo Edo.”

“Very well. Now, let me hear about the gear you and the R&D boys have dreamed up, and why we should be cooking it up.”

“All right, we started with the framework of the Mark V armor, since it has the most enhancements of the current lot, and began working from there. Now, obviously, with the increase in size and strength of the Marines due to the biological upgrades, we can increase the size, thickness, and enhancement capability of the armor itself, making it into true power armor, rather than just power suits, like we have today. The increased size and durability of the armor has its own benefits in terms of protection, of course, but we should have the ability to have increased functionality across the board.”

“What kind of functionality?”

“Well, obviously, we have enhancements to speed, strength, and agility, on top of the improvements the Marines will already have. An upgraded Marine in full armor, as designed, would essentially be a demigod compared to baseline humans. Obviously, life support and environmental control systems will be included, featuring a complete chemical seal, rated for undersea to roughly twelve thousand meters, Terran standard gravity, as well as full vacuum seal, allowing a Marine to survive in hard vacuum for up to five hours. Full Nuclear-Biological-Chemical-Nanite protections, as well, though battle damage will compromise those systems, naturally.”

“The proposed armor has a zero-point power module that should allow the wearer to provide power for systems. Additional systems will include a sensor suite that can be included in the armor, along with hardened communications and a HUD in the helmet. We also have a detachable jump pack for the armor, which will allow for increased mobility. Ihm versions up-scaled appropriately, naturally.”

The General paused. “With this armor and the accompanying mods, the Black Star Marines will be one of the elite fighting forces in the known galaxy, with few groups even coming close to being able to match our capabilities. And that isn’t even counting the weapons the R&D people have come up with.”

“Currently, we Marines are using ‘conventional’ weapons. Sure, there’s a mix of ballistics and psyshot or lasers, with a few heavy weapons involved as well, but they’re all basically weapons that already exist. This includes the melee weapons available to the Marines as well. Frankly, it is time we upgraded those to match the new reality.”

I smiled with a knowing grin. “Chainswords, General?”

He smirked. “Well, with increased strength, bolstered by power armor, what was a completely nonsensical idea becomes far more practical, you know. But the research teams haven’t gotten a practical model, yet. However, they have come up with some interesting options involving powered melee weapons.”

“Oh?”

General Khan nodded. “Yes, they come in three main variants, so far. Blade, fist, and hammer.”

“The blade, whether it is a sword or axe, is made of an aligned carbon nanomesh, with an edge that is honed to a monomolecular thickness. The power reinforces the blade, making it harder to damage, and increasing its cutting ability. Elemental effects such as lightning, flame, or frost are also possibilities.”

“The hammer is a two-handed mace or warhamer, though single-handed versions could be made. The power, in this case, primarily adds to the weapon’s durability, and adds a triggerable gravitic assist on a swing, causing the weapon to hit far harder than it ought to, similar to the Dragonbreath torpedoes. As with the blades, elemental abilities are possible.”

“The fist weapons actually come in two forms. One is a claw, and the other is a fist. Essentially, they are the same as the blade and the hammer, respectively, but they are built into the armor, which makes disarming the Marine quite difficult. Unfortunately, current models suggest that trying to wield a weapon in the same hand as a fist or claw would be problematic, at best. So, in most conditions, users would need to dedicate either their melee or ranged weapon to their nondominant hand.”

“As for the ranged weapons, well, you still have ballistics, though sized up and with explosive rounds. Then you also have plasma weapons, though they are still a bit unstable in combat conditions. And, of course, you have a heavy flamethrower. Better yet, it is possible to make some of these weapons in wrist-mounted versions that can be used with fist weapons, but that would require extra training to get proficient with.”

“The labs have created prototypes of the weapons sized for normal humans, as well, along with models of power armor that do not require the mind-machine interface. The weapons are less damaging due to being scaled down, and the armor does not perform at the same level as the Marine armor, obviously, but they are still massive improvements over the rank and file weapons and armor that the Marines have.”

“Very good. And how long will it take to fully upgrade the Black Star Marines, complete with the new gear?”

“Minimum would be six months to get the augmentations done if we go all at once. Production of the armor could be done by then, if we rushed it through development. Realistically, we should get the Nomads to go first, in order to troubleshoot the procedure and reduce the casualty rate. Do augments by squads, so that we don’t have our entire force down for the duration. Say two years, total, for the augmentations, and then retraining with their new abilities and gear, with everyone being augmented and up to speed by year three.”

“Not what I’d like to hear, but makes sense. Proceed.” As the General sat down, I turned to Slave-Commodore Virstina, and said, “Now, Commodore, I believe it is the Navy’s turn. What do you have for me?”

(Conference Room, Blackstone Station, Star’s Reach system)

Slave-Commodore Virstina rose from her seat, and began her presentation. “First, I wish to say that Vice-Admiral Zyrsys would have been here, but the complete implosion of the Kul’tiran Navy due to the deaths of the majority of their senior officers has caused a great deal of chaos in Alliance space, and it is threatening to spill over into the Confederacy. For that reason, she felt her time was better spent overseeing the situation from Madrigal Base.”

I nodded. “I had heard the reports, but how bad is it, really?”

Virstina sighed. “The Ashvane Admiralty’s legitimacy was called into question almost immediately after the Boralus Massacre. A source in the Alliance Council leaked reports from Alliance Intelligence to news networks, claiming that Admiral Ashvane was responsible for adding psychotropics and subliminal messaging to the therapy sessions that Admiral Jaina Proudmoore was taking to deal with the aftermath of the Theramore’s destruction and her humiliation. According to the leak, that pushed her over the edge, to the point where she eventually had a breakdown and used her psy powers to kill most of the Kul’tiran Admiralty. In a ‘coincidence’ of timing, Admiral Ashvane was ‘delayed’ in getting to the meeting due to her personal shuttle experiencing a fault in the startup sequence, forcing her to call for another shuttle. She arrived on Boralus Station fifteen minutes after the massacre.”

“Following the leak, Commodore Talia Fordragon declared that Ashvane was a traitor to Kul’tiras, and demanded that all loyal Kul’tirans help her to overthrow Ashvane. The situation quickly devolved into a civil war. Currently, Ashvane has control over 40% of the Kul’tiran fleet, while Fordragon commands 36%. Another 20% deserted, and appear to have turned to piracy and other rackets. The remaining 4% were seen fleeing through the Gateway along with a large contingent of civilian craft, likely carrying their families. They were last spotted by our stealth probes in the Amazon system, but their last known vector takes them away from both Nuevo Edo and Star’s Reach. The presence of a couple mining and manufacturing ships suggests that they are intending to try and set up a new colony somewhere.”

I nodded slowly. “Nothing we can do about the civil war in Kul’tiran space. Our involvement would only stoke the fires, I’m afraid. However, this band that ran off to make a new colony is different.”

Bringing up a listing of ships currently in port, I found the section for the Star’s Reach defense group. “The local defense group has been filled out, but some of them could use a bit of seasoning. Detail the Romulus, two Assassins, four Gunboats, and the Collateral Damage to do a reconnaissance in force starting in the Amazon system and continuing on the last known track for the Kul’tiran deserters.”

“As you wish, Admiral. Their orders?”

“Stealth reconnaissance. Call it wargaming for if we needed to track down a pirate base in this arm of the galaxy. Maintain stealth unless discovered, otherwise, observe and report. Fire if fired upon. I want to know what these people are doing in this area of space, but I don’t want to engage in hostilities when we might be able to coopt them instead.”

“Understood. I’ll have the orders sent out immediately.”

“Very good. Now, we have deviated from the topic somewhat. What does the Navy have in store for me?”

“First, we have some minor improvements to beam weapons and targeting systems that the engineers have come up with, which, when implemented across the fleet, should increase firing rates by 3% and accuracy by 5%. Those numbers may seem small, but according to the engineers it is mostly a change in software, with a couple minor upgrades needed to the power regulators. These changes could be rolled out immediately, and incorporated into future designs from the start.”

I nodded. The numbers weren’t much, when taken on their own, but when applied across a fleet in battle, then that could prove to be a significant edge. “Make it so. Next?”

“Thorough analysis of the captured Shadowgate ship, crosschecked with the information we’ve been able to recover from the Enrichment Center computers, confirms initial suspicions. The fleet, in its current form, would be unable to function in ‘Dark Space’, as it is called, due to the different physics at play there. Primary concerns are the ships’ hulls and propulsion systems.”

“For the hulls, it appears that the properties of Dark Space render sustained electronic fields inert for reasons we do not quite understand. Their weapons, for instance, are laser weapons that use charged capacitors, loaded like artillery shells. The capacitors can be reused, but they must be hand-loaded, as the ‘gun deck’ of the ship is exposed to vacuum during an attack. The electrum alloy used in their hulls acts almost like a faraday cage, keeping the electrical fields inside the ship operational, so long as the hull is not breached.”

“Obviously, this setup is incompatible with the Black Star Navy’s composite material approach to ship hulls. Using electrum in the hull would negate the majority of our advantages that we enjoy in our current ships. Because of this, current Black Star ships are unable to engage in battle in Dark Space.”

“This is before we even consider the problem of propulsion in Dark Space. It would appear that conventional engines do not work in that space, and maneuvering requires a projected light ‘sail’ and a mechanical rudder to steer with, like a blue-water sailing ship. Frankly, even beyond the technological aspects, the Navy does not have the correct skill set to properly fight in this Dark Space.”

I nodded. That pretty much summed up what I’d heard before. “Options?”

“Fortunately, transition into and out of Dark Space is only possible at Lagrange points, due to some quirk of physics. We would suggest having stealthed sensor buoys at every Lagrange point in a system. Since our ships can’t go into Dark Space, and their ships are wholly inferior to ours when they are in real space, we don’t judge it to be worth the expense of trying to build platforms or lay minefields around every point in the system. It was suggested that we build weapon platforms in Dark Space, but static defenses without mobile support are only good for target practice and delaying actions.”

I leaned back in my chair. Certainly, that would be the smart approach. However, it was a little passive for my liking. “Very well. Since Shadowgate is the only power we know to use Dark Space, we can make this a low priority. However, tell the design teams to start drawing up ship designs for craft that can fly and fight in Dark Space, should it become necessary. And commission a corvette-sized ship to be used as a test platform for new weapons and technology testing in Dark Space. We won’t make a big push on this now, but I want some people thinking about it, in case it becomes a problem.”

“Aye, Admiral. Next, I’m happy to report that research into the Anchor Drives is proceeding nicely. While the science teams still do not understand all of the forces at play, we have managed to refine our understanding of the design somewhat. By increasing the charge time of the drive to forty minutes instead of thirty, we can cut the ‘entry’ window at the destination to five minutes. We also believe that charging the drive for an hour would allow instantaneous entry on the other side.”

“Why haven’t any of the other powers considered this, and why do the X’thari not charge the drives longer?”

“We are the first group to truly do research into the X’thari drives, primarily because the X’thari have a habit of relentlessly hunting ships with their drives, as we saw at Coldana. There was little will to explore what the drives could do. As for why the X’thari don’t do this, there are two options. Power requirements for the extra ten minutes of charge are 60% greater than normal for the drive, so it could be an issue of power generation, transference, or storage with their biomechanical systems. Alternatively, if the suggestions that the X’thari as we know them are a devolution of a formerly more advanced species, then they might not have the technical expertise to alter the functioning of the drives.”

I breathed out a sigh. “All right, we’ll keep the drives as normal, for the time being, but have the scientists keep refining their work. I like the idea of instant-arrival X’thari drives. That would give us a huge tactical advantage against enemies.” I paused, and then said, “So, how goes the work to refit the fleet with the dual-core X’thari drives, like we have on the Starhunters?”

“Thanks to the research done on the Starhunters, the new version of the X’thari drives have been further reduced in size, and have increased efficiency, both of which have made it easier to refit the existing ships. We are currently cycling the Battle groups first, but once all the current ships are refit, then we will get the Defense groups updated, as well. Current projections have the fleet completely refit to have X’thari dual-drives in eighteen months.”

I nodded. That was a long time, but there was no way to get around it, unless I was willing to take entire groups off station at a time, and stop all other work at all Black Star shipyards. That simply wasn’t possible, given the commitments we had.

“And what of Chaotic Space?”

Virstina grimaced. “Things are both better and worse on that account, Admiral. Thanks to the Chaos Brigade, we have good test figures on ships capable of entering ‘Hellspace’, as some crews are calling it. To start with the bad, at this time it does not look like we will be able to refit our current ships to open the portals to Hellspace that are needed to enter and exit that realm without a rift. The modifications required would be too extensive for ships that already have space at a premium.”

Hellspace, huh? I shook my head at the name. It was certainly fitting, given the horrors that were supposed to exist there, and it definitely rolled off the tongue better than Chaotic Space did. The Chaos Brigade would probably object to the name, but that was too bad. With a smirk at that thought, I motioned for Virstina to continue.

“However, refitting ships to include the psychic shields that will protect ships and crews from the energies of Hellspace is possible. These shields would be secondary systems to the main battle shields, like the navigational deflectors designed to ward off debris and environmental hazards. Propulsion systems, shields, beam weapons, and solid projectiles still function as normal within Hellspace, but the Starbolt torpedoes have a magnified effect within that space, as seen with the psychic wave that emerged from the Sol rift during the initial contact with Hellspace.”

I grimaced at that.The wave was bad enough experiencing it in real space. I didn’t want to know what would happen if you got caught in one while inside Hellspace. “Issue orders that Starbolts in Hellspace are to be last resort weapons. And make sure that all ships have plenty of Dragonbreath torpedoes.”

Virstina nodded, “Yes, Sir. Now, as stated, we can modify all ships of gunboat size or larger to fly and fight within Hellspace, but we currently do not have the ability to reliably get them into or out of that dimension. To remedy this, the design teams have come up with a ship capable of opening a portal to Hellspace and holding it open long enough to allow a fleet through.”

She touched a button on her pad, and a hologram of a ship was displayed. It was nearly three times the size of a Wrath-class Battleship, which was shown next to it, for scale. It looked mean, too, as I could see plenty of weapon emplacements.

“This is the Diety-class Hellbreacher ship. As you can see, the design is significantly larger than a Wrath-class. It has multiple redundant systems, including the rift-generators, and as much shielding, armor, and defenses as we can give it, along with some of the most powerful engines we’ve yet designed. In real space, it will be able to match the Wrath-class for speed. In addition to her beam weapons, torpedo launchers, and rail guns, she also carries room for two fighter squadrons, as well as a detachment of three Hellspace-capable Crow-class assault ships and four Marine drop ships, in addition to a full complement of shuttles and repair craft. We are currently working on a new fighter design to compliment the Hellbreacher which will be able to operate inside Hellspace.”

“Obviously, this thing won’t be able to get through the Gateways.”

“Yes, Admiral, that is true. However, it will be equipped with the X’thari dual-drives, which will allow us to circumvent the issue of maximum size allowable by the Gateways. Additionally, these ships, while capable of supporting a fleet, the Hellbreachers will also be fully capable of independent action. They are equipped with planetary-grade communication suites, which should allow them to contact us from anywhere in the galaxy, so long as it is in real space. This will enable our ships with X’thari drives to quickly come to the aid of a Hellbreacher, if there is cause for concern.”

This ship was a beast. But it needed to be. If it took a fleet into Hellspace, then the Hellbreacher was a single point of failure. If it was disabled or destroyed, then the fleet was trapped in Hellspace. That was, quite simply, unacceptable. So, they had made as many redundancies as possible, and dialed up the defense as much as they could. However, this was not a ship to simply be added to the existing fleet structure, but something that could be used as force projection all its own.

That said, it was a monumental undertaking, with unproven technology. There would be a lot of crew members on that ship, and they would literally be going into harm’s way, just stepping into Hellspace, if everything I’d read was true. But without this, we would be vulnerable to attacks from Hellspace with no way to go and hit back. And I hated the idea of people being able to attack me and just run away, without me being able to hunt them down and make them pay.

“Very well. I will authorize the construction of the Pallas Athena Diety-Class Hellbreacher as a test platform. However, I also want more economical designs drawn up. We might not be able to refit our existing craft to open the way to Hellspace, but I want strike craft capable of entering or exiting Hellspace independently as escorts for the Athena.”

(BSN Atlanta, entering Tsk’neth system, Free Worlds Alliance)

Captain Arun Veleth did his best to keep his breath steady as he watched the reports coming in on the screen. Technically, the Atlanta, an Assassin-class corvette assigned to the Fourth Group out of Madrigal Base, was not supposed to be in the Free Worlds Alliance. The Black Star Company didn’t have any contracts in the Alliance, and there were no legitimate reasons for him to have taken the corvette across the border.

Of course, when the owner and admiral of the fleet asks nicely for a mere captain to ‘just sneak over and check things out’, well, that wasn’t exactly something he could say no to. Whether it was through the business side of things or the chain of command, the guy at the top was the one who made the decisions, at the end of the day. If he refused without some damn good reasoning, that he could back up with facts, he’d be lucky if it just tanked his career.

Still, it wasn’t all bad. If he had to pick any warship to go galivanting around with, spying on the neighbors, then he would pick his Atlanta, for sure. Well, a Raven-class or a Starhunter-class would be better still, but those weren’t warships, even if the owner in the Starlight Raven had chalked up more warship kills in a freighter than some cruisers could lay claim to. But, out of all the warships in Known Space, the Assassins made the best spies, and he knew it.

He was a little concerned about going out into… aggressively neutral territory, such a long way from any kind of logistical support. There was too much that could go wrong with a little ship off on its own, too much that they couldn’t plan around without the increased cargo and manufacturing capacity (to say nothing of mass and weaponry) of a Wrath-class. They couldn’t even bring a logistics freighter with them, because the freighter would get spotted straight away.

Well, there was nothing for it. He had a job to do, and complaining in his own head wasn’t going to help matters. With a sigh, he turned his attention back to his tablet, to review the mission brief.

Captain Veleth,

You are to take the Atlanta into Alliance space, under full stealth protocols, and make your way to the Tsk’neth system. Upon arrival, conduct an investigation of the system. Your discretion on the methods used, but it would be preferred to not reveal our presence in Alliance space.

Tsk’neth IV is an agricultural world, responsible for the production of 29% of the food production in the sector. However, market analysis teams have noted that food prices are rising across the Alliance (already reaching 30% increases in some markets), due to sudden shortfalls in deliveries coming from Tsk’neth. Official news sources have reported no reason for this shortfall.

Further, Tsk’neth IV has little manufacturing capability. 90% of all manufactured goods sold in the system are shipped in from outside, even including black market goods. In recent weeks, company contacts familiar with the Alliance criminal underground have reported that total shipments to Tsk’neth have dropped in volume by 79%. This is after considering a 230% increase in imports of medicine and weaponry (all categories).

In addition, there has been a dramatic rise of ships going ‘missing’ after making port at Tsk’neth, with only the ships hauling medicine or weapons going untouched. Only 7% of ships not bringing medicine or weaponry into the system have been seen at their next port after going to Tsk’neth. 99% of those surviving ships are owned either by the Tsk’neth government, or by wealthy individuals on Tsk’neth.

Black Star Intelligence has begun an investigation, but information coming out of Tsk’neth has always been sparse, but now it is getting harder to come by. Initial reports attributed the lack of information to a sedentary political and economic climate. The Tsk’neth colony, founded by Ihm separatists before the first Empire-Ihm war, has always been isolationist in outlook, so little attention was paid to the lack of information coming out of the system.

Recent information from the Nomad communications networks suggests that there is more at play than a colony of loners simply wishing to be left alone. We have hearsay reports that individuals with family members on Tsk’neth have been complaining about the length of time since their last communication, or how their family member seemed nervous while on the comms. There are multiple stories of individuals appearing to be about to give details on the situation inside Tsk’neth, only for their connection to be terminated suddenly. When family members tried to reconnect, their family member’s account had apparently been deleted.

Because of the fractured nature of the Alliance, there is no overarching authority like in the Confederacy. While this is good for individual business interests, it also means that there is little to keep internal situations from getting out of hand. Initial analysis is that a totalitarian regime has assumed control of Tsk’neth IV, and is clamping down on all travel in or out of the system.

While Alliance politics is not our purview, the current actions suggest that there is some kind of buildup going on. Your orders are to find out what is going on in Tsk’neth, and report back to command, so that we might be prepared for threats as they come. Absolute radio silence to be observed unless mission critical.

Captain, your ship was chosen for this mission for two reasons. First, out of all the Assassins in Fourth Group, Atlanta is the first to have been refitted with the X’thari drive. Second, your Lieutenant in charge of Communications is a Nomad, allowing you to send regular reports without breaking radio silence.

Your orders are to proceed to Tsk’neth, and conduct scans of both the system and the planet, while remaining undetected. Find out what is going on over on the planet, and stop whoever is shooting down freighters. The disruption in food prices have already started things going ugly. This mission is the best chance for keeping someone in charge from doing something profoundly stupid, like starting a war, while the rest of the sector inches closer and closer to anarchy.

--Admiral Mirikon Mollen

Veleth sighed again. Reading the brief, and the supporting evidence that accompanied it, was almost enough to give him ulcers. The whole thing was long on conjecture and short on hard facts. Or, at least, any of the facts that actually mattered.

In accordance with stealth protocols, they had come out of hyperspace a light day outside the heliopause of the target system. Now, six days later, they were just passing into the system itself. This was the reality of stealth missions. You had to have the patience of a god, at times.

“Captain, something’s wrong.”

That was never something he liked to hear. Especially when it came from his communications officer while we were on a stealth mission. “Report!”

Lieutenant Frank Stone, the Nomad communications officer, looked back at him. “Captain, we aren’t detecting any transmissions in the system. Either every communication is using secure laser comms, or something is very wrong. The only transmission I can detect is the Hypercom buoy.”

Veleth frowned. That couldn’t be right. A system, even an agricultural one, should have hundreds, thousands of transmissions at any given time. Laser coms existed, sure, but no one used them unless they were going for complete security, at close range. They just weren’t feasible over the breadth of a system!

“Sensors, what do we have? Any ships? What about the Tsk’neth Guard?”

“Yes, sir. Counting thirty-seven light and medium freighters, two large freighters, and five corvettes around the target planet. Readings on the corvettes match them to five of the twelve ships of the Tsk’neth Space Guard. All ships appear to be on minimal power and drifting.”

“Was there a battle? Do the ships appear damaged?”

“Unclear at this time, sir. We would need to move closer or switch to active scanning for more infor—Wait a minute!”

Captain Veleth’s eyes snapped to the sensor officer. “Report!”

“New contact. Sssketh-class Ihm Navy frigate. No identification. Ship appears to be dead in space. Currently in orbit of the outermost planetoid.”

A Sssketh-class? It wasn’t the newest class of frigate the Ihm had, but the class was barely twenty years old. Most of the ships were still in active service. So, what was an Ihm frigate doing way out here in Alliance space? And why was it apparently dead? “Are they playing dead, or actually disabled?”

“Unknown, Captain. Limited detail available at this distance.”

He took a breath, and considered his orders. He was supposed to investigate the system and the planet, under the assumption that the system was now being held by an extremist government. That was clearly not the case, now. “Helm, lay in a course for the frigate. Maintain stealth. Assume that it is lying in wait for any vultures looking to scavenge off the carcass.”

“Aye, Captain. Course laid in.”

“Engage.” He felt the thrusters fire. That was supposedly impossible, barring cataclysmic malfunctions, but any spacer would tell you that you eventually learned the feel of a ship. There was the micro pulses of the engine, pushing slow and steady, building acceleration without dramatically increasing their power curve or creating a noticeable grav spike.

“Sensors, I want all passive sensors locked on the frigate. Get me as much information as you can before we get close enough where it could catch us if we were discovered.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Comms, get on the Nomad networks. Inform Command about this situation, and see if there are any updates on what is going on. Something is very wrong in this system.”

“Right away, Captain.”

Under full stealth protocols, it took them six hours to get in range of the short-range sensors. In that time Lieutenant Stone had been in contact with both the fleet and the Admiral. There was some good news on that front, at least. The Shadowdancer, Simo Hayha, Artemis, and Shinokage had all been outfitted with the X’thari drives, and were being readied for action, with drives charged. If he found himself needing backup, then help could be here in a little over ten minutes, instead of a couple weeks. That went a long way to putting his mind at ease.

On the other hand, if that happened, the Admiral himself would be coming out. That was a sure sign that things had the chance to go from ‘creepy’ to ‘totally fucked’ in an instant. Everyone knew it wasn’t his fault, of course, but no one in Black Star could help but notice how many times that the Admiral had ‘just so happened’ to be right in the right place at the wrong time, and gotten dragged into all kinds of major events. Once was happenstance, twice was coincidence, but three times? And they were well beyond three times at this point.

The frigate came in range of the viewers. Bringing up the image on the main screen, Veleth couldn’t help but frown. The ship was most certainly dead in space, all right. No power readings, not even life support. And there were no life signs on board. Also, the frigate was doing slow flips, bow over stern, as it orbited the planetoid. And that orbit was decaying. At a guess, it was probably twenty-four hours before the ship’s orbit decayed to the point where it would crash on the planetoid’s surface.

As he studied the image, more things became clear. Some kind of energy had burnt long scorch marks in the hull. There were points that seemed melted in some spots, and others where the hull had apparently warped out of shape. The engines also looked as though they had been half-melted away.

Just what in the hell happened to this ship?

(BSN Atlanta, Tsk’neth system, Free Worlds Alliance)

Captain Veleth frowned as they hung silently in space, drifting ever closer to the Sssketh-class frigate while their sensors got as much data as they could. The frigate’s condition bothered him. The damage to the hull was not due to weapons fire, as far as they could tell. Or, at least, they weren’t due to any weapons that his science officer was familiar with.

Kinetics had certain defining characteristics on their impact sites. There were some differences between impactors and penetrators, naturally, but one could tell when a ship had been shot with kinetics. Explosives, whether they were conventional or nuclear had their own blast pattern. Starbolts rarely left anything behind to analyze. And energy weapons were almost entirely point impacts.

But according to the report, the damage appeared to be due to two different sources, neither of which should be possible in nature, and both of which were utterly impractical as weapons. According to the science officer, in some parts the damage was due to continuous electrical discharge, like lightning, and the rest was from a sustained energy beam.

Sure, it was possible to generate sustained electrical discharges, or a true energy beam weapon. However, the power requirements and the nature of physics meant that those weapons would require vast reserves of power, and would have an effective range that could be measured in kilometers. Sure, energy cutters existed, but they were used on mining ships, or in shipyards to cut up scrap, at ranges that rarely got over ten meters.

“Stone, I want you to pass this information along to Command. Maybe the eggheads back at Star’s Reach will have a better idea of what could be causing this. Add on that I agree with Specialist Herxina that I know of no natural phenomenon or weapon system that could create such marks unless the ship was disabled prior to being attacked.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” The lieutenant got that far away look in his eyes that Veleth had come to recognize as a Nomad accessing their information streams. “Captain, reply from Admiral Mollen. We are authorized to attempt a boarding on the Ihm vessel. The Admiral wants full hazard protocols. Biological, Chemical, Nuclear, Nanite, Psychic, and Cyber. We may drop stealth at your discretion.”

Veleth breathed in, and said, “Very well. Inform the Admiral that we will be sending our Marine detachment over to examine the ship. Also, advise that the system appears clear of hostile forces, so if the Shinokage and escorts wish to join us, they should be clear. Then call down to the shuttle bay and have Kowalski prep Shuttle 1 for departure.”

Leaning back in his chair, he hit a button on his command chair to call down to ‘Marine country’. Even when it was only a couple rooms, given the size of the Atlanta, some traditions held firm. He took a breath, and then upheld another tradition, that of a Captain sending men under his command into harm’s way.

“Sergeant Woulfe, Command has seen fit to let us investigate the frigate. Admiral Mollen himself apparently suggested full safety protocols, including psychic and cyber. Shuttle 1 is being prepped for your team.”

Slave-Sergeant Jaxon Woulfe was a new addition to his crew. His former sergeant had, unfortunately, died during the battle against the ships that emerged from the Coldana Rift. The former resident of Jagloth had been working to get adjusted to the new ship, but, so far, seemed to be getting along with the crew, which was good. Friction between a crew and the marines could eat at a ship.

“Understood, Captain. Any word on what we could be expecting?”

“Not yet. According to sensors, everything is dead. Minimal power, life support offline, and no discernable life signs. And I’m sure you’ve come to the same conclusion about the ‘battle damage’ as I have.”

“If’n by that you mean that the damage looks like no weapon I’ve ever seen, then yeah, I’ve come to the same conclusions, Captain. I have the team suiting up now. Ready to launch in ten.”

“Understood. I’ll let you get to it. Bridge out.”

(Shuttle 1, Tsk’neth system, Free Worlds Alliance)

“Sergeant, can you come up here for a moment?”

Hearing the tone in the pilot’s voice, Woulfe moved towards the shuttle’s bow, and stuck his head into the cockpit, where Petty Officer Fairbreeze was working the controls. “What have you got for me, Seldana?”

The half-knelfi pilot looked up at him, and shook her head. “With Cyber protocols in place, we can’t try and do a remote override on the shuttle bay doors. However, I have found an airlock that looks to be functional. The adapter should work to allow us to connect mechanically, without relying on the ship’s systems. However, that limits our ability to screen out potential contaminants. The airlock energy screens are only rated for known chemical, biological, or nanite threats. If we’re dealing with an unknown, it may not be sufficient.”

“So, the passenger compartment may get contaminated. What about the cockpit?”

“The quarantine fields are some of the best, but they won’t protect against anything your suit doesn’t.”

“All right, then, we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Line us up on the airlock, and I’ll have the guys prep for EVA. That way, we can at least limit the exposure to the shuttle. Once on board, we’ll try and make our way to the shuttle bay, and open it up for you to land.”

Fairbreeze nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll get us lined up for the airlock.”

(Strategic Command Center, Blackstone Station, Star’s Reach)

I was looking over the current state of our forces around the galaxy. Right now, I wasn’t really worried about expanding our theater of operations. Currently, we had permanent bases in five systems, two of which were exclusively ours. The Starhunters had already scouted the closest systems to Star’s Reach, and any of the closest systems would take a large initial investment to get going.

Oh, sure, one of them looked like a good catch, but getting colonists and resources together for the venture was neither quick nor easy. Trying to keep it out of the public eye, since I wouldn’t have any way to keep the vultures off my back unless I stationed Navy ships there until permanent defenses could be set up was problematic. Worse was that, because the world wasn’t by one of the Gateways, without using X’thari drives the system would be isolated if anything went wrong, with the nearest help half a month away.

The whole thing reminded me of those civilization-building games, where you had to balance expansion with defense and development. Spread out too quickly, and you risk your development falling behind enemy groups, or you spread your defenses too thinly, allowing barbarians to suddenly rampage through your systems. If you weren’t careful, you got both, at the same time.

“Any word from the Atlanta yet?”

Looking up, I found General Khan standing next to me, looking at the same figures I was. Or, at least, pretending to. Wouldn’t do for any of the minions to think there was something to worry about before there was something to worry about.

Straightening up a bit, I shook my head. “No word on the system itself beyond the initial reports. The whole thing sounds like a ghost ship on a system-wide scale. And they found an Ihm frigate that has damage types we’ve never seen before, and are clearly not natural.”

“Think they met something in Hellspace that chewed them up and spit them out?”

“Best guess right now. The damage might not work for weapons systems, but if you had an insanely strong Psy user, you could probably replicate it. I’m not sending scouts into Hellspace until we can support them. The Chaos Brigade is giving us plenty of data already, so we don’t need to risk our people on that end.”

“And Tsk’neth?”

“Well, if we talk about something chewing on the frigate, deciding they don’t like it, and spitting it out, that’s all well and good. But what if that’s not the end of it? Person or animal bites you, the bite itself might hurt like hell, and stopping the bleeding is important, but sometimes that isn’t the most dangerous part of a bite.”

“Hell germs? Thinking a plague?”

“If we’re lucky, yes. If we’re not…”

“Why not blow it up, just to be sure?”

“We need to get proof before we can do that. I can explain away our ship being where it isn’t supposed to, just saying that they were commissioned to track down a pirate or something. But cleansing a system? We’re going to need some kind of evidence before we go dropping bombs, or we might have the whole galaxy after us. And we can’t fight that and win.”

“So, Marines?”

I nodded. “Marines.”

“Then I guess it is good news that Second Company’s ships have been upgraded with the X’thari drives.”

“In that case, I have an idea…”

(Unidentified Sssketh-class Frigate, Tsk’neth system, Free Worlds Alliance)

Woulfe’s boots were the first to touch down on the hull of the derelict frigate. A soft thunk sounded inside his suit as the magboots connected to the metal hull. Four other pairs of boots touched down around him, as his squad traversed the ten-meter gap between the shuttle and the frigate.

No one got stupid and tried to show off, for which he was thankful. Too many people died because they acted like damn kids whenever they got to ‘play’ in zero gravity. He was just glad his team knew not to try things like that while on a mission.

“All right, team. Let’s get moving. Raez, see if you can get that airlock to work, or if we are going to need cutters.”

Private Jazon Raez, their technical specialist knelt over the control panel for the airlock. If there was one universal constant, it was that people who put an airlock on a ship also put a way for it to be opened from the outside. There were some security concerns about this, but, in reality, they were negligible. If commandos were able to get to the hull of your ship, then they were likely going to be able to get through the outer airlock doors. Which is why most of the security was on the inner doors.

Still, sometimes people don’t maintain their systems well, or they deliberately sabotage the safety protocols. And sometimes damage to the ship could knock automatic systems offline. Since it so happened that all those kinds of ships were the ones that Marines, in any space navy, were most often tasked with boarding, tactics for a more forceful means of entry had been devised long ago.

With the condition of the frigate, Raez figured they would have to go to at least rewire the control panel. The chances that the airlock had power and was functioning normally was slim to none. So, he was fairly (but pleasantly) surprised when the standard Ihm emergency access code (a nine-digit sequence that was roughly analogous to the SOS of old Terran history) opened the hatch on the first try.

Sergeant Woulfe, however, didn’t share the techie’s view on the matter, however. “Damn, this is bad.”

“Why is that, Sarge? Door’s open.”

“Because, Raez, one thing that happens when a warship goes to battle stations is that the main computer locks out the general airlock access code, requiring a ship-specific one. Even civilian ships do something like that. Helps slow down borders. It is part of the reason that, if we don’t catch a ship by surprise and don’t need to be quiet about it, we usually just cut our way in.”

Raez nodded, starting to catch on. “And a ship that’s been banged up like this would be doing that. So, either the main computer has been knocked offline, and the system reverted to base programming, or the switch was never flipped to begin with.”

“Exactly. I don’t like this, not at all. In fact—” his words were cut off by a new voice entering the channel.

“Woulfe, this is the Captain. If possible, I’d like you to turn on your helmet cameras. I have Herxina and Stone standing by to review the feed, to help with analysis and to send the information back to Command.”

“Understood, Captain. We’ll use configuration Gamma.”

“Roger that. Good hunting.”

As the line to the ship went dead, Woulfe looked back to his squad. “All right, people. Cameras on. We’re under Cyber-threat protocols, so use data configuration Gamma. Receiving from tightbeam lasers or secure suit induction only. Everything else is transmit only. We have external radios that are not connected with our systems, so we’ll be using those as primary comms.”

“We are transmitting our feed back to the shuttle, which will filter it before sending on to Atlanta. Assume that all computers on the frigate are actively compromised and will seek to compromise your systems. Any access to ship systems is to be done through the secondary devices you’ve all been issued. If we come across intel, download onto external drives.”

He paused, long enough to make sure each of them understood what he was saying. “All right, move in.”

(Unidentified Sssketh-class Frigate, Tsk’neth system, Free Worlds Alliance)

Slave-Sergeant Jaxon Woulfe was not known for being skittish. He’d survived the horrors of Jagloth, and the Legion Plague. He had fought the X’thari at Nuevo Edo and Coldana as part of Second Company. He had been one of those who boarded the mysterious space hulk that the Starhunters had found. In short, Jaxon Woulfe had survived more terrible situations than almost any member of the Black Star Marines, save for the original Immortals of First Company.

He had survived because he had learned to trust his instincts. Those instincts had kept him from getting infected on Jagloth, and they had kept him alive ever since. And, now, those instincts were screaming at him as his five- man team cycled their way through the airlock, and into the frigate’s interior.

Something was very wrong here.

The airlock was on reserve power. Given the situation inside, they might as well have just left the door open. Life support was offline, the ship in vacuum. Artificial gravity was also not working, requiring the use of mag boots and grav belts. Even the emergency lights were off, leaving the ship in darkness.

And then, there was the blood.

Blood splattered the hallway, lit up by the headlamps on their helmets and the flashlights on their rifles. Blood everywhere. Something bad had happened here. This wasn’t a battle; it was a slaughter. But where were the bodies?

In tightbeam pulse transmissions to his team, he ordered, “Sensors up. Infrared and ultrawideband penetrating radar. If something’s moving on this wreck, I want to know about it before it decides we look like a snack. Raez, eyes sharp for a working console. We’re heading for the bridge. Herdan, take point. Move.”

All five began moving as a well-oiled machine, moving quietly through the halls. Blood was everywhere, but bodies were not. Not at first.

“Sarge, body up ahead.”

Looking ahead, Woulfe saw what Private Herdan was talking about. He magnified his suit cameras, to get a better view. It was an Ihm male, big and hulking as all their kind were. And it looked as though he had been partially eaten. “All right, Herdan. Nice and careful like, use your rifle to nudge him out of our way.”

The Gauz male reached out with the tip of his rifle, and nudged the corpse. It didn’t take much force to send a body moving in microgravity, especially when you were able to plant your feet and keep from moving yourself. So, it wouldn’t take much to send the body gently gliding out of their path.

“NO! DON’T DO IT! SERGEANT, DON’T TOUCH THAT THING!”

The warning from the Nomad Lieutenant on the ship came too late. Before Woulfe could tell Herdan differently, the Marine’s rifle made contact with the corpse’s foot, and began guiding it out of reach. And then the corpse began moving. In zero gravity, with the hallway in raw vacuum, the corpse began moving, thrashing about.

“Sergeant, shoot that thing in the head. Destroy the brain. Don’t get any of it on you.”

Woulfe wasn’t about to ask the Lieutenant for clarification. Technically, only the Captain was allowed to give orders to the Marine detachment, but the trainers when they had been inducted to the Black Star Marines had laid out a set of seventy maxims that they expected all recruits to learn and abide by. One of those was, ‘A Sergeant in motion outranks a Lieutenant who doesn't know what's going on.’ Like most books of ancient wisdom, things didn’t translate exactly to every situation, but the core of the maxim’s meaning still applied.

“Fuller, Mialee! Kill that thing!”

The corpse’s thrashing had caused it to go spinning about in place as it began slowly moving towards a bulkhead. Corporals Jessica Fuller and Solana Mialee were his best shots, so he gave the order. Four flashes lit the dark as both Marines raised their rifles, and fired twice. The corpse’s head exploded, and the thrashing ceased.

“Target neutralized. Lieutenant Stone, sir, do you have any idea what is going on here?”

(BSN Atlanta, Tsk’neth system, Free Worlds Alliance)

“Target neutralized. Lieutenant Stone, sir, do you have any idea what is going on here?”

Captain Veleth raised an eyebrow as he looked over to his communications officer. “Yes, Lieutenant, I’m very interested to know how you figured out that the ‘corpse’ was somehow active.”

The Lieutenant took a deep breath, but Veleth could see a tinge of pink tinting his cheeks. “Ah, it was a hunch, Sir. I have an idea what is going on, now, yes, but to make certain, I’d like to have the Sergeant get an analysis on the corpse’s blood.”

“You copy that, Sergeant?”

“Roger that, Captain. Raez, collect a sample.”

There was a pause, and then a new voice came on the line. “Lieutenant Stone, this is Private Raez. I have the scanner ready, and a blood sample loaded. What am I looking for?”

The Lieutenant breathed silently, and then said, “Basic threat assessment. Nanite or biological probable. Possible exotic.”

Veleth did his best to keep the frown off his face. The Lieutenant was doing his best to keep calm, saying the bare minimum to allow him to appear collected, but Veleth could hear the worry in his voice, and had not missed the raw panic earlier, when he suddenly started yelling commands to the Marines. Lieutenant Stone did not ‘throw his weight around’, to use the human saying. That was why he was allowing this to go on. If he was suddenly barking commands to anyone who wasn’t in his chain of command, it was likely important.

“Nanite negative. Biological inconclusive. Presence of exotic material confirmed.”

Stone took a deep breath, and met his gaze. “Captain, I recommend Sergeant Woulfe and his men go weapons free. Priority accessing any data storage they can get to. Leave gravity and life support offline. Also, get them to check whether any escape pods or shuttles are missing. Also, I recommend we declare a Code: Veronica.”

Veleth’s eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar code, and did a quick search on his tablet. What he found made his eyes widen in shock. His eyes met Stone’s again, questioning. Stone just nodded slightly.

“Sergeant, weapons free. Destroy the head of any corpse you find. Make for the bridge, and see if you can’t get into the logs. Get what intel you can, and try to confirm whether all shuttles and escape pods are accounted for.”

“Understood, Captain. On our way.”

Still watching Stone, he said, “Lieutenant, alert Command about this event. And then I want a staff meeting with all officers in five minutes. You can give a full report there, along with recommendations so that we can work out how to deal with this.”

“Yes, sir.”

(Main Bridge, BSN Shinokage, Star’s Reach System)

“Admiral on the bridge!”

“As you were.” I waved everyone off, letting them go back to their preparations to leave. My eyes found Captain Inatumal’s, and I nodded. “Captain, good to see you again. How are preparations going?”

Slave-Captain Aurae Inatumal smiled at me, probably remembering the last time she and I had gotten together, along with her sister, last week. “All ships in the ready response formation report ready, Master. Second Company’s ships have joined our formation. Drives are charging and will be ready to go in ten minutes.”

“Good. With any luck, we won’t be needed, but I don’t like relying on luck. There is something going on in the target system, and I—”

Private Message from Frank Stone: EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! CODE: VERONICA confirmed.

My words were cut off by the sudden message. I had things set up so that only high priority messages would interrupt my conversations like this, and it certainly qualified. The Captain noticed as my eyes shifted focus to read the message. “Orders, Master?”

Private Message to Frank Stone: Code: Veronica acknowledged. Status report.

Private Message from Frank Stone: Ihm Frigate dead in space. Blood in halls, but no bodies. First corpse found floating in null gravity, visible bite wounds on corpse. I was in the beta for the Biohazard 1 VR remaster that Paccom brought out for the new systems before I joined DAtS. Got flashbacks to the mansion.

Private Message to Frank Stone: Understood. What kind of zombies are we dealing with here? Fast or slow? Nanite, disease, or magic?

Private Message from Frank Stone: Unknown on fast/slow. Zero G makes the zombies a minimal threat. From what I saw of the zombie’s movements, probably not original Romero slow, but definitely not Z: World War fast. I make them as about Biohazard speed.

Private Message from Frank Stone: Nanite not present in initial test. Biological unconfirmed, but confirmed Exotic energy presence. Unknown about the true nature due to limited testing equipment. Marines are securing additional samples for testing.”

Private Message to Frank Stone: Atlanta’s exposure?

Private Message from Frank Stone: None so far. Decontamination protocols being set up for the shuttle and marines upon return.

Private Message to Frank Stone: Understood. Shinokage incoming with Second Company from the Marines. Hold the fort, be there soon.

Private Message from Frank Stone: Roger. Wilco.

Finally looking to meet the Captain’s gaze, I took a breath. “Captain, all crews to alert stations. Send a message to the task force, ten minutes to initialization of the X’thari drives. Synchronize jump for 15:30 Star’s Reach Time. All ships rig for biohazard protocols. No one is allowed to dock with any ship without my approval. Any ship attempting to dock with one of ours shall be summarily destroyed before they approach within one hundred-thousand kilometers. Use of Dragonbreath and Starbolt torpedoes authorized.”

The Captain saluted smartly. “As you command, Admiral.” Then, she turned, and began barking out commands to her people, who were already in motion. I nodded grimly. That was good. They were a solid crew, honed and blooded in battle. If it was as bad as Frank was saying, they were going to be needed, and I would need them at their best.

(Unidentified Sssketh-class Frigate, Tsk’neth system, Free Worlds Alliance)

Another flash of light, and another corpse’s head exploded before they could start moving.

“How many is that, now?”

“Twenty-one.”

“How many of them are there?”

“Crew of a Sssketh-class is supposed to be two-twenty males, fifteen females.”

“So, where are they all?”

“Cut the chatter. Clear coms.” Woulfe smiled grimly as Fuller and Raez acknowledged his command, before ending their conversation. Not that he wasn’t wondering some of the same things as Fuller was. He might not be the most culturally savvy marine out there, but he had, at least, been exposed to the concept of zombies from his fellow Marines. Thomas had snuck a few vid files into their boot camp, and they’d watched them while they were on liberty during training.

“Sarge, we have a problem.”

A problem? At this point, he would be happy if there was just one problem. This whole ship was a literal boatload of problems that he wanted no part of. “What is it, Herdan?”

“Large grouping up ahead. Scanner counts thirty bodies.”

Thirty. That wasn’t exactly easy, even if the lack of gravity made killing the zombies so much easier. With that many, chances improved that the zombies would do something on accident to send them flying their way. And he had no intention of seeing how well Black Star Marine armor held up to an undead ihm’s bite.

He would have liked to go around, but according to the schematics they had, those zombies were directly between his team and the bridge. Fortunately, the bridge was shielded, and had a blast door cutting it off from the rest of the ship. But they would still have to be careful.

“Sergeant Woulfe for Lieutenant Stone. Thirty hostiles between our team and the bridge. You’re the zombie expert. Any recommendations?”

“Sergeant, recommend switch to heavy weapons with flechette rounds and mass fire. Extreme caution advancing after. Zombies torn apart by weapons fire should still be capable of fighting so long as the brain is intact.”

“Acknowledged.” Looking to his team, he said, “You heard him. Herdan, with me. Fuller, Mialee, back us up, take down anything that tries to get past.” Together, he and Herdan traded their standard issue rifles for a pair of space-rated kinetic weapons that resembled nothing so much as a minigun.

Light blazed from the barrels of the heavy weapons as Woulfe and Herdan walked the streams of bullets back and forth across the hallway. In ten seconds, they had both unleashed one thousand rounds, with each round releasing ten flechettes. They tore through the ihm corpses like a hot knife through butter. As he and Herdan let their guns go silent, he saw the flashes from the two women’s rifles as they calmly took down anything that looked ‘head-like’, adding to the cloud of viscera, bone, and gore that was now floating through the hallway.

“Raez, grav grenade. Get that mist on the floor so we can see if we’re done.”

(Unidentified Sssketh-class Frigate, Tsk’neth system, Free Worlds Alliance)

The grav grenade plastered the cloud of viscera to the floor, as intended. When the hallway was once more returned to weightlessness, three shots rang out, as the three zombies that had roughly intact heads (though that was almost the only thing ‘intact’ about them) were put down. Slave-Sergeant Woulfe nodded appreciatively at the thoroughness. He didn’t know anything about these ‘zombies’, but the Nomads seemed to be inordinately concerned with them, and anything that made immortals concerned was not something to be taken lightly.

“Sarge, I’m reading atmosphere on the other side of this door. Readings are hazy. I think someone has put together a dampening field in there. We might have survivors!”

Woulfe nodded. “Fuller, check those blast doors we just passed, see if they’re still operational. If someone is alive on the bridge, I don’t want to vent all their atmosphere when we open the door. Hard to question a corpse.”

A moment later, Fuller’s voice came over the comms. “Sir, looks like we can close the doors. But we’ll need rescue gear if we’re going to get anyone on that bridge off this ship.”

“Agreed. Atlanta, you copy?”

Captain Veleth’s voice replied. “We heard, Sergeant. We’re prepping Shuttle 2 with rescue loadout. Standing by.”

“Doors closed, Sarge.”

Looking over to Raez, he said, “All right, Raez, see if you can get that bridge door open. Remember, we’re still on cyber-threat protocols, so external systems only. This situation is fucked up enough as it is. Don’t want to add to it by getting complacent.”

“On it, Sarge. Security is… what? Sir, the door controls are on a simple three button code. No encryption.”

No encryption on the door. No encryption on the airlock. There was a pattern forming. With a sigh, he said, “They probably wanted to make sure these ‘zombies’ couldn’t get in, while allowing anyone crazy enough to mount a rescue to get to them. Crack the door, Private, and let’s see who we’re dealing with. Everyone else, weapons ready.”

Everyone formed up on the door, weapons at a low ready position, and Raez keyed the code. There was no his of escaping air or expected pressure equalization. Instead, a weak shield glimmered just inside the door, keeping the air in.

Three Ihm were inside, two females and a male. All three of them looked rough, their uniforms in shambles. Debris from ration packs was scattered around the bridge. All three of them looked up dazedly at the open door, first in disbelief, then in shock.

One of them screamed, or perhaps it was all of them. Each of them, however, started diving for weapons. Stepping forward with his rifle raised, Woulfe said, “FREEZE! We aren’t here to hurt you, but if your hands touch weapons, then we will not hesitate to fire.”

One of the females took a deep breath. “Zazox, Axacho, stand down. These aren’t those… things.” The two hesitated, and then moved their hands away from the scattered weapons they had been going for. All three stood, with some effort, and the one that first spoke came to something resembling attention.

She took another breath, and said, “I am Shipleader Yugna Arsikiz, of the Ihm Armada Ship Glory of Juxl. With me are my surviving officers, Lead Navigator Zazox Rhox and Legionnaire Axacho Khez. Whom am I speaking to?”

Woulfe relaxed slightly. They were at least able to talk sensibly, which was a bonus. “I am Slave-Sergeant Jaxon Woulfe, of the Black Star Marine Corps, attached to the Atlanta, of the Black Star Navy. What can you tell us of what happened here?”

“The Black Star…” Shipleader Arsikiz shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Is your ship stealth capable? Have the ships in system discovered you, yet?”

Woulfe immediately got on edge. “What are you talking about? The system appears dead. The ships we have on scanners were as ‘active’ as this one was. We didn’t even know there was anyone alive on here until we were on the other side of the door.”

The Legionnaire shook his head. “They’re probably crawling with the dead by now. But if one of the Controllers notices you…” He let that sentence hang in the air.

“Sergeant Woulfe, this is Shinokage, Shinokage Actual speaking. Status report.”

(Main Bridge, BSN Shinokage, Tsk’neth System, Free Worlds Alliance)

“Sergeant Woulfe, this is Shinokage, Shinokage Actual speaking. Status report.”

I leaned back in my chair as Captain Inatumal contacted the Marine leading the expedition to the derelict ship. Frank Stone, on the Atlanta, had been keeping me up to date with what they found. The fact that the number of zombies was higher than what the crew complement of a ship that size normally held spoke to something greater than just one ship getting caught in something.

“Ma’am. Sergeant Woulfe reporting. Survivors on Sssketh-class frigate, designate Glory of Juxl, saying threat of enemy action if discovered. Unknown threat, unknown capabilities.”

“Captain, we have movement in the ships. Fourty-four drive signatures incoming. That represents all observed ships in the system, heading our way.”

“Life signs? Shields?”

“Negative on life signs at this range, Captain. Their shields do not appear to be on.”

Captain Inatumal looked over to me. “Master?”

I took a deep breath, and said, “The X’thari drives are not subtle, so it isn’t a surprise that they were detected. But no freighter captain would deliberately turn their ships towards a X’thari hunt. Even the warships would at least have their shields up.”

Looking over to the sensor officer, I said, with a calmness I hoped didn’t sound forced, “Time to intercept?”

“At current speed, enemy forces will be in conventional weapons range in thirty minutes, Admiral.”

I considered the options for a second. “Have Atlanta fall into formation. Shinokage and all Assassins to volley fire. Destroy them all. Use the primary guns for now. None of these are worth wasting Dragonbreaths on, much less Starbolts.

“Send to Orgrim’s Hammer. Tell Acherus to launch Ebon Blade squadron as a screening element. The Hammer and escorts are to go further into the system. I see there is one orbital platform over the planetary capitol. Tell them to get detailed scans, priority on life-signs. Return fire if fired upon.

“Prep Shuttle 1, and bring the survivors of the Glory to Shinokage for debrief. Full download of their computer systems. When everyone is off the ship, you may destroy it as well. I don’t want any of these plague ships to remain intact.”

Inatumal nodded. “As you wish, Master.” She turned, and began barking out orders to the crew, while I simply watched the scans.

Some would say that the main guns on the Assassin and Reaper class ships were obsolete with the newer weapons that Black Star had available to them. That was short-sighted thinking, just like someone who says a sniper rifle is obsolete because you have access to RPGs. There was still a roll they could play, and having extra options was never a bad thing.

In this case, I wanted to test what level of control whoever or whatever was in controlling these zombies had. They were clearly capable of making the zombies perform at relatively complex actions, since getting the ships on course was at least moderately difficult. But that wasn’t anything that couldn’t be done by remote.

But if the first few ships blew up, and the rest didn’t change course or take evasive actions, then that would tell me that the controlling force either had limited control, or limited focus, only able to do basic commands. If they only took simple evasions, moving as a group, that would tell me that they were capable of reacting to the situation as it developed, and had a good degree of control. And if they began more complex evasions, moving individually, I’d know that they had a relatively fine degree of control, or that instead of an overarching controller, there were individual controllers.

I heard a thump, the sound of a pair of railguns the size of a starship firing together. “First shots are away. Time to intercept, twelve minutes. Guns recharging.”

“Thank you, Captain. Status of the Glory’s survivors?”

“Shuttle 1 has them, and quarantine procedures are in place to receive them. Atlanta’s marines are finishing their download of the ship’s database and logs. It appears that their shuttle and several escape pods have been launched.”

I nodded slowly. “That likely explains how the affliction, whatever it is, spread off the ship to the rest of the system. Let me know when the Ihm are through decontamination, and have them brought to the conference room. We need more information about what is happening, so we can figure out how to stop it. If we can stop it.”

“Sir?”

“The only planet-killers we have on hand are Starbolts, Captain. If we use those on an inhabited planet, then that would call down the whole galaxy on our heads. I’d rather avoid that, if we could. Manufacturing some Greenwave is possible, but since this does not appear to be a technological affliction, it would do us little good.”

I sighed. “It sounds horrible to say it, but things would be far easier if the Marines found no survivors on the planet. No survivors would mean that it is an uninhabited world, and we can put an end to it. But if there are any survivors down there, then we’d need to extract them before we could unleash our arsenal. Or deal with them, if they refuse to be extracted.”

“Why not call in the Alliance, Master?”

“Because the Alliance is a fractured mess, and I can’t count on someone not getting stupid and releasing this affliction upon the galaxy at large. Oh, probably not maliciously. They’d just take samples for study, either to find a cure, or to use as a doomsday weapon, themselves, something to hold over those who would try and conquer them. But, because they’re so fractured, they also run black ops against each other all the time. And it wouldn’t take much for an ‘accidental release’. And then millions or billions more would die.”

There was another thump. “Second volley fired. First volley impact in two minutes.”

Time seemed to crawl, like it always did during space battles. Unless you got into knife range, the distances involved were simply too huge for anything but a waiting game. But it was something I was, at least, familiar with. Something I knew how to deal with, unlike a mystery zombie plague.

Six ships, light freighters, were hit by our initial attacks. From the scans, it looked like a through-and-through. Just like the first time I witnessed the Shadowdancer fight, a civilian craft just didn’t have the armor to stand up to the rail guns. All six targets began drifting, their engines destroyed.

The incoming ships did not change course. That suggested they didn’t have a great deal of control. Or that they didn’t know how to respond to our attacks. The second wave would be coming up on them much quicker, now that the range was less.

Another thump heralded the third shots being fired, just as the next six ships were taken out. This time, the five warships were among the targets. They, at least, exploded normally, their bow sections vanishing as the projectiles met armored hulls. The Tsk’neth ships were at least thirty or forty years old, after all. they were better than civilian ships, but not by that much.

Now, the ships began to maneuver. It was a standard evasive pattern, done perfectly by the book, with all the ships moving in unison, like a school of fish. Fitting, since I was basically shooting fish in a barrel.

“Captain! Sensors are detecting EM buildup in the enemy ships. We’re also looking at some non-standard deviations to normal civilian blueprints.”

Captain Inatumal nodded. “On screen.”

My eyes went wide. Each of the ships had been converted to have a massive, electrified claw of some kind. A magnetic grappler? But those were only used by pirates, and low-budget ones at that! Well, unless they were slavers, and cared more about the passengers and crew than the ship itself, or its cargo. It was a sure sign that those on the ships wanted to board.

“Captain, take the gloves off. I don’t want any of that filth on my ships. Dragonbreath torpedoes approved. Take them out. Sensors, I want you to be checking for any transmissions from the enemy ships.

“Clear them from my sky.”

(Main Bridge, BSN Shinokage, Tsk’neth System, Free Worlds Alliance)

The civilian freighters didn’t stand a chance, not from the range we started hitting them at. Maybe, if they had managed to get closer, they could have tried to lock on with their grapplers. Not that it would have done them any good, against the composite hulls of the Black Star fleet. But I wasn’t going to let them show off what else they might have.

“Any ships on screen?”

“Negative, Admiral. Only sensor readings are our ships, the Glory, and four space stations, three around the fourth planet, and another by the sixth.”

I looked over to Raven, and asked, “What do we know about the stations?”

“Two of the stations around Tsk’neth IV are transshipping stations, designed for receiving food shipments from the ground and distributing them to outbound freighters, and receiving imported goods before sending them down to the surface. The third is the primary government, economic, and military hub for the system. The station around Tsk’neth VI is listed as a fuel processing plant, for harvesting and refining fuel from the gas giant.”

I nodded, and then looked over to the sensor officer. “Sensors, do we have any readings from the stations themselves?”

“Not at this range, Sir. We would need to go active for more detail.”

I took a breath, and said, “Status on Atlanta’s Marines?”

“They just returned to their shuttle, and are returning to the Atlanta.”

“Very well. Inform Atlanta that they are to destroy the Glory as soon as they are clear.”

“Aye, Sir.”

“Raven, what is the last known population of this system?”

“On Tsk’neth IV, approximately 800 thousand, spread in clusters across the planet. Much of the farming is automated, and requires little maintenance. The four stations combined have a listed population of 50 thousand. Tsk’neth III is a minor industrial colony, and, at last report, had a population of two million, primarily slaves, though the population has been steadily rising as the colony becomes more established.”

“Sir, Atlanta reporting her Marines are clear. The Glory of Juxl has been destroyed.”

“Very well.” I took a breath, and said, “Secure from stealth. All ships switch to active scanning. Take us past the refining station, and then towards Tsk’neth IV. We need to find out how bad things are.”

(Main Bridge, BSN Shinokage, near Tsk’neth VI Refining Station)

The station was dead.

It still had power. The machinery was still functioning. If someone docked at the loading ports, they would no doubt be able to load up a full supply of the fuel the station produced.

But it was still dead.

Or, rather, the people on it were dead. Thanks to Raven, we were now looking at the camera feeds from across the station. And what we saw on the hacked cameras was not encouraging.

The entire crew had been killed, thanks to the single escape pod that had docked with the station. That was all the infection needed. A single zombie made it onto the station, and bit someone. Since there were no Nomads on the station, the crew didn’t immediately shoot both the zombie and his victim in the head before dumping their bodies out the airlock and sterilizing the entire area. No, they started shooting the zombie, and three more workers got bitten before they managed to destroy the initial zombie. And then they took the workers to the infirmary.

The result was a foregone conclusion. In somewhere between two and twenty-four hours, depending on the extent and location of the bites, the workers turned into zombies. And, in a result that any Nomad would see coming, the zombies escaped, and overran the station. Everyone died, and was turned.

The problem was that the zombies weren’t just mindlessly wandering around. They were working the machines, harvesting gas and elements from the gas giant. They were still refining it, and packaging it. Sure, they looked like robots following instructions by rote, but they were actually doing more than mindlessly hunting the living. They were being controlled.

That made things a hundred times worse.

“Weapons! Destroy the station. Be sure that any wreckage falls into the gas giant. Helm, take us to Tsk’neth IV.”

(Main Bridge, BSN Shinokage, in orbit of Tsk’neth IV)

“Admiral, we’re being hailed. Laser comms only.”

I raised an eyebrow. From the moment Atlanta had entered the system, the only broadcasts had been from the quantum communications system, connecting Tsk’neth to the rest of the galaxy. Now there was someone trying to communicate? “Source?”

“The government space station. Transmission says that it is from a ‘Worldleader K’ren of House B’tch’.”

“On screen.”

The screen was filled with an image I never thought that I’d see, a fat Ihm female. Not just overweight, but looking like one and a half Roseannes at her most obese. I’m pretty sure that there were actual superdreadnoughts with a slimmer profile than her.

“You are encroaching on Tsk’neth space, and have destroyed property belonging to the Tsk’neth planetary government and the Yathru Corporation! Who is this, so I know who to send our lawyers after!”

I stared at the self-important idiot for a moment, and then turned to look at Raven. “Is this dumbass serious?”

“Unfortunately, Admiral, I am not in any position to judge her mental state. However, according to the medical journals, morbid obesity in Ihm is typically associated with decreased mental faculties, so it is possible that she is mentally deficient in some way. Perhaps it would be best to treat her as a small child?”

“WHAT? I WILL HAVE YOUR JOB FOR THIS! DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”

“No, and I don’t care. We are here investigating an infectious disease outbreak in this system. I don’t suppose you know anything about that, do you?”

“That is just lies told by those lazy workers who don’t want to do some honest work! There is no ‘disease’ outbreak. This is just indolent fools trying to escape their responsibilities. Now, I want to know who your supervisor is! I demand compensation for the damage you’ve done to the system infrastructure!”

I muted the conversation as Worldleader K’ren began ranting about the cost of the ships I’d destroyed, and the damages from the refinery, and all sorts of other things I couldn’t care about. Blessedly, the best thing about being my own boss was that I didn’t have to put up with the Karens of the world. It wasn’t like any of them had the power to hurt me, with everything I had at my disposal.

Looking over to Raven and the Captain, I said, “I want a full sensor sweep of the planet, and the stations. Either this idiot traded in all her brains for a fifth helping of desert, or she’s hiding something. I want to know if we have a populace to worry about on the planet below.”

“Admiral, we’re receiving another transmission, from Tsk’neth III.”

“On screen. Keep the Worldleader on a separate line, but don’t let her know we’re talking to someone else.”

An Ihm male appeared on the screen. Big and burly like all of his kind, he sported a large scar running across one eye, which had been replaced by cybernetics. He was wearing the uniform of a supervisor for a mining company.

“This is Work Chief Ruak. I control Tsk’neth III and its mines and factories. I don’t know who you are, but you should know that there is some kind of disease that has run rampant through this system. Don’t let any infected on your ship, and don’t dock with the stations!”

I nodded. “Thank you for the warning, Chief Ruak. This is Admiral Mollen of the Black Star Navy. We acknowledge the existence of a disease, having seen its effects already. We have already purged a few vessels that were controlled by the infected.”

“Good, most people don’t want to believe a miner over the leader of the system.”

“I can’t imagine why, what with the Worldleader’s charming personality. One is tempted to agree to whatever is spewing from her mouth, just to get her to shut up. What is your status? Have the infected reached your colony?”

“Yes, but, so far, we have them contained to a few sectors of the base. We lost a lot of good people when the outbreak started by the docks, and then the guards got themselves killed trying to control the ‘riot’. After ‘demoting’ the Colonyleader, I ordered the affected sections sealed off, and vented them to space. Unfortunately, it seems that vacuum doesn’t keep the infected from continuing to try and get through the blast doors.”

I looked to the side. “Contact the Orgrim’s Hammer. Second company is to gear up for combat. Full biohazard protocols. Work with the Chief to find a site to land troops, and draw up a plan of attack for reclaiming the colony.”

Turning back to the screen, I said, “I am going to send some troops to help deal with the situation. Actual combat troops, not glorified security guards. What is the current situation like?”

“Things are stable, for now. But we’re running low on food and medical supplies. We typically get our shipments from Tsk’neth IV, but with the recent problems, nothing is coming our way. The only ships that come, and aren’t blown away or taken by the infected, are the ones belonging to the government and the Yathru Corporation. Not that it matters with the docks overrun.”

He sighed. “If you can help clear out the docks and allow us to recover most of the supplies and land ships again, that would be a big help.”

“Speaking of ships, I’ve seen five of the ships which are supposed to belong to the system defense forces. Where are the other seven? I don’t want them sneaking up on me.”

“Unfortunately, all seven were lost to the Infected. Four detonated their reactors when they realized they were being overrun. Two others chose to slave their controls and fly directly into the heart of Tsk’neth VI’s atmosphere. The Razorclaw is currently caught in our docks, as the ship had just rotated down for repairs. We haven’t been able to push back past the horde to reclaim it. We may have been able to limit the deaths to only about thirty thousand, but we aren’t soldiers.”

“All right, stand by, and the Marines will be joining you shortly. Please give them as much of a briefing as you can, so they know how to best assist you.”

With that, I broke the connection. I was about to actually try and pay attention to the worldleader, but thankfully Captain Inatumal got my attention first. “Admiral, we have conducted our scans. The transshipping stations have been completely overrun, as has the planet below. Raven is reporting that hacks of the civilian data networks, what we can reach of them, have revealed that the governmental station is in the initial stages of an outbreak. However, we have been able to identify one potential ‘controller’ on the government station.”

A feed was brought up of a female ihm with obvious wounds, like the other infected, but her eyes were glowing black. The female was using hand motions to direct the mindless Ihm in what looked like a docking area, as they maneuvered around the barricades that the station security had set up, overrunning the guards and pressing on into the structure. Raven mentioned, “Facial identification suggests that the controller is the Worldleader’s daughter.”

“Of course, she is. Fine, warm up the main guns. When they are ready to fire, you can unmute her.”

“—and don’t think I won’t be speaking to the Alliance Exchange Service about this! I am good friends with the wife of the president, you know!”

Right. She still hadn’t stopped talking. A warm glow filled my heart, as I found myself finally able to do what everyone who has ever dealt with a Karen has always wanted to do. “Shut up, you scaly cow.” Her jaw hung open in shock, but I didn’t stop to allow her to recover.

“While you have been uselessly prattling along, we have been running scans of your stations, and the planet below. Your stations are infested with the infected, and it appears that your forces are being overrun. The fact that your daughter appears to be controlling the infected somehow puts your leadership in question. Therefore, you have twenty seconds to convince me not to blow your stations to hell before I commence sterilization procedures on the planet below.”

“You can’t do that!”

“Yes, I can. Tactical, destroy the station before the infected can utilize any of the escape pods. And get this garbage off my screen.” As the sputtering K’ren disappeared from the screen, I sighed. “Never negotiate with Karens.”

(Main Bridge, BSN Shinokage, Tsk’neth System, Free Worlds Alliance)

“Admiral, Major Valcyne is reporting in. Tsk’neth III is secure. Black Star Marines are currently sweeping through the colony, to ensure that no more infected are hiding. Frostwolf, Laughing Skull, and Warsong are patrolling the surface, to make sure no infected escaped.”

I nodded to Captain Inatumal. “Very good. I doubt that any that did get outside went far. Even though the lack of atmosphere isn’t an issue for them, the colony is the only part of the planet that really matters. There’s no tactical or strategic reason for them to go out too far, that we know of.”

I paused, and then said, “Captain, put through a request to Work Chief Ruak, if you will, and see if he will join us on the Shinokage. It is time we settled the matter of Tsk’neth IV.”

“Yes, sir.”

Two hours later, two Ihm were shown into Shinokage’s conference room. I recognized Work Chief Ruak’s formidable frame instantly, and nodded to him. “Work Chief, welcome to the Shinokage. I trust the Marines haven’t caused any trouble?”

The Ihm shook his head. “Thank you, Admiral. And no, the Marines have been no trouble at all. Any worker may turn their tools into weapons, but that does not make them warriors. According to our scans, the… undead, as your people call them, would have broken through our doors eventually, though by that point we would have likely starved to death, anyway. Suffice to say that everyone on Tsk’neth III is quite happy to do almost anything the Marines could possibly ask. There are a few hissers, but they are quickly shut down by the others.”

“That’s good to hear. Your people have lost a lot. It is only natural to seek to find someone to blame, and the Marines are both ‘not locals’ and ‘close to hand’, making them a perfect target for that kind of resentment. So long as it doesn’t fester, and turn into something I cannot ignore, like attacks on my people, I have no interest in cracking down on those lashing out in pain.”

Ruak nodded, and said, “That certainly removes one of the worries people had.”

I motioned to the female Ihm standing next to him. Unlike Ruak, who was dressed in his work uniform, she was wearing the Ihm equivalent of office clothes, and she had been silent this whole time. “Speaking of people, are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

Ruak looked embarrassed for a moment, and said, “Ah, yes. Admiral Mollen, this is Administrative Second Othi. She is the highest-ranking member of the Yathru Corporation still surviving, just as I am the highest-ranking surviving member of the work force.” He looked over to Othi, and said, “Administrator, this is Admiral Mollen, of the Black Star Navy.”

I nodded. “A pleasure, I’m sure.”

Othi breathed in sharply, and said, “I’m sure it is, for you. Unfortunately, I have to represent the Yathru Corporation, and the near-total loss of corporate assets in the system is going to be a significant blow to the corporation. I can only hope that, with the governmental station destroyed that the communications lockout can be removed, so that someone more qualified can be brought in to assess the situation.”

Well, at least she was being honest. That would help everything along. “Well, I’m afraid you won’t be able to wait for the central office to find anyone better. Raven, bring up the images from the surface.”

The room’s main view screen came to life, and began showing the footage we were getting from our spy drones of the surface. It was the stuff of nightmares and zombie movie marathons. The entire planet was overrun. The last enclave of survivors was on the northern continent, but even that was quickly being overrun as the zombie Ihm used their powerful frames to break through makeshift barricades.

There simply weren’t enough people trained to fight. Even with weapons, the civilians were far too outnumbered. According to the files that Raven had hacked from the planetary database, the armed forces had tried to treat the infected as a riot, and, unsurprisingly, psychic stun rounds did absolutely nothing to the dead. The infection had spread through the military forces, taking out the trained fighters, and trapping weapons behind enemy lines.

The planet’s response? Send in the police and corporate forces to hold the line. This time, at least, they were armed with lethal weapons, but it was too little, too late. They were overwhelmed, and the people began to panic, which doomed so many more.

Turning back to the two horrified Ihm. “We have determined that the ‘Infected’ are, in fact, dead. They are corpses reanimated by unknown powers, expected to be related to the chaotic dimension that the Ihm Empress punched open a rift to. According to our sensors, the entire population of Tsk’neth IV, all 800 thousand of them, are dead.

“We have cleansed local space of all ships and stations harboring the infection. Even now, our troops are continuing to sweep Tsk’neth III to determine if there are any surviving necroforms, so we can terminate their existence. At the moment, we believe it possible in the short term to contain this threat to Tsk’neth IV.”

I took a breath, and said, “However, we do not have the resources for a full military blockade lasting indefinitely. And it would take only a single breach of quarantine to allow the necroform plague to spread to the sector and the galaxy at large. Further, it is possible that… less well-meaning individuals may seek to gain access to the plague for use in bioweapons research.”

I could see that they both understood the gravity of that statement. This ‘outbreak’ had wiped a thriving agriworld clean of life, sentient life, at least, in a matter of weeks. If it could be refined, and turned into a weapon? It would be devastating.

That was good, because there was a very good chance that, if this wasn’t contained, it could spread to the rest of Known Space. That would be a problem, since, other than Nomads, there wasn’t anyone in this world that knew how to deal with zombies. Fortunately, I was here, and I wasn’t about to let this ruin my game.

“As the leader of a recognized Mercenary company under the Unified Mercenary Accords, I am invoking Article 345, section 27, of the Free Worlds Alliance Mercenary Extraordinary Force Act, specifically, authorization for Exterminatus action.” Both Ihm gasped in realization of what I was saying. “The target is Tsk’neth IV.”

I looked them in the eye, and said, “Please state your full names and ranks for the record.”

“Work Chief of Tsk’neth III colony, Ruak of Clan Dosk.”

“Administrative Second of Yathru Corporation holdings, Tsk’neth III colony, Othi of Clan Edrikaz.”

“Now, please confirm that you are here of your own volition, not under compulsion or duress.”

“I confirm.” “I confirm.”

I took a breath, and then said, “As the recognized leaders of the surviving authority in this system, do you confirm the existence of a plague which could pose a threat to the safety of this system, sector, and galaxy that cannot be contained by conventional methods?”

“I do.” “I do.”

“Then, according to the Unified Mercenary Accords and the Free Worlds Alliance Mercenary Extraordinary Force Act, I declare that Tsk’neth IV is declared Exterminatus.”

I took a breath, and then said, “Also for the record, do you confirm that Tsk’neth IV is no longer inhabited by a sentient species, as defined by the Superluminal Hostile Interdiction Treaty?”

“I confirm.” “I confirm.”

I nodded, and then said, slowly and clearly. “Then let the records show that, under the Free Worlds Alliance Mercenary Extraordinary Force Act and a declared Exterminatus event and, in concordance with the Superluminal Hostile Interdiction Treaty, that the restriction on superluminal weapons against planetary targets has been lifted. Recordings of these proceedings will be transmitted to the major powers, along with all sensor records of the planet in question.

“Raven, end recording.” I sighed, and took a moment to collect my thoughts. Turning to the two Ihm, I said, “Do you want to watch? I can understand if you say no.”

Othi hesitated for a moment, and then said, “What will happen?”

I looked her in the eye. “Now that the requirements for using superluminal weapons have been met, I am going to have Simo Hayha, Shadowdancer, Atlanta, and Artemis, four of my Assassin-class corvettes each launch one of our Mark II Heavy Starbolt torpedoes at the planet from different sides. The Heavy Starbolt is a one-thousand-kilogram mass that will be traveling at five hundred times the speed of light when it makes impact on the planet. This is five times heavier than the normal Starbolts, due to the increased density of the materials used.

“We will calculate the launch velocities so that the weapons will impact simultaneously at equidistant areas of the planet’s equator. Each will hit with a force of over one thousand one hundred and twenty-three yottaJoules. Naturally, much of that energy will be lost to heat, but one would be enough to make a planet permanently uninhabitable, perhaps even cracking it. Four will be certain to obliterate much of the planet, and any surviving fragments will be sent flying out of the system.”

Othi looked like she was about to faint. “Y-you would destroy the entire planet? Surely there has to be another way?”

“I do not have access to the Exterminatus weapons of the major powers, like the torpedo that stripped Jagloth of its atmosphere and all life upon its surface. The only ‘conventional’ planet-killer I have access to is Greenwave, and that would not solve the problem. Greenwave only works upon technology. These necroforms are not the work of technology.

“At best, it would simply isolate the zombies to this planet for a decade or two, while politicians and corporate overlords plotted and schemed. People would forget the truth, and as soon as they figured out a way to make themselves safe from the Greenwave, they would return, and the outbreak would spread again. That isn’t even considering that someone may find a way to get on and off the planet through dimensional rifts.”

I paused, to let her take all that in. “No, the only way to be sure that this will not spread is to eliminate it, now, before people have a chance to start thinking with their bank accounts instead of their heads, or before religious zealots or eco-nuts do something stupid. It is a command decision, and I am the commander on the scene. It is not the method I would prefer, but, since this is what I have, this is what I must use.”

Ruak nodded once. “Since it appears that I am the senior civilian representative in the system, I will officially endorse this plan of action, for what it is worth. And I will watch with you. Someone from Tsk’neth should be on hand to witness Tsk’neth IV’s destruction.”

I smiled at him. We both knew that the endorsement of a Work Chief from a resource extraction colony would not count for much, even if they were the senior civilian authority in the system. Still, it was a nice gesture. In the court of public opinion, it would go far.

Othi grit her teeth, and said, “As a representative of Yathru Corporation, I am forced to officially protest the destruction of Yathru infrastructure and holdings. The corporate lawyers will likely try and get some kind of restitution. My position does not allow me to do any different.”

“That is fine. The Exterminatus protocols override all property claims on the targeted planet, effective the moment Exterminatus is declared. They would be better off hoping their insurance covers Extterminatus events.”

Othi laughed grimly. “I have—no, I had a friend in the underwriting department, who lived on Tsk’neth IV. I am quite certaint hat the corporation’s insurance policies do not cover Exterminatus, especially since this would be only the second one declared in the last fifty years. It would be deemed an ‘unnecessary expense’ by the corporate overlords.”

That was typical, I thought, shaking my head. Some things never changed. “I expected as much. Unfortunately, Yathru is just going to have to hope that their reserves can cover the beating their stock is going to take. Perhaps if they hadn’t been complicit in bungling the response and covering up the event, they would not be in this situation. If word had been spread the moment it started, then something could have been done.”

Two hours later, both Ruak and Othi stood by my side in the conference room, as we watched the four Assassins take their shot.

(Virtual Room in NERV HQ)

“Oh. My. God.”

Isaac didn’t know who was talking. He did not have time to look. His mouth was too busy trying to catch flies. That had to be the single most impressive thing he’d seen yet with this game.

Morgan shook his shoulder, forcing him out of his shocked reverie. Turning to her, he could see that she had the same wide-eyed look he knew he had. “Did he just blow up a planet?”

Isaac took a deep breath, and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, he did.” And then it hit him. “Holy shit, he just blew up a planet. This is going to be huge! When people find out about this, they’re all going to want to have a go! We’re going to need to get with the AIs to figure out something to keep people from getting crazy with things!”

“Chill out, boss! He already had planet killers. Most people understand that using things like that isn’t something to be done lightly. And the ones who don’t already aren’t allowed anywhere near the tech to do so.”

Isaac took a breath, and nodded at the GM that spoke up. “Thanks, Phillips, I needed that.” Turning back to Morgan, he grinned. “All right, minor freakout handled.”

Morgan just shook her head. “So, what happened? I only came in at the end. Why did our favorite beta tester blow up a planet?”

Isaac grinned. “In a word? Space zombies.” He chuckled at Morgan’s expression, and said, “No, really. Apparently, there were space zombies that started infecting this planet. The planetary governor was corrupt and in bed with the corporations, which tried to cover everything up to prevent their stock price from tanking, but that only meant that the entire planet and all the orbitals got overrun.”

Looking back at the feed, he said, “A second, nearby world was under attack, but Mollen sent in some of his Marines to clear them out, and they appear to have rescued the majority of the population there. Of course, since that world primarily existed as nothing more than resource extraction for the corporation that screwed things up, who knows what will come of that. I can’t see the corporation being too happy at the losses they suffered.”

Morgan wasn’t listening. She was scrolling back through the data, until she got to the crew of the Atlanta checking out the ship. She entered her authorization code to review private messages, and frowned. “Honestly, using the name of video games as codewords? Even if they weren’t the most recognizable games in the series, that’s just asking for trouble!”

Isaac shrugged. “They’ll be fine. Even if the messages are included in the stream that gets broadcast, it is not enough for the lawyers to get involved. I am, however, impressed that he decided to have a zombie apocalypse plan, in a science fiction game.”

Shaking her head, Morgan looked back at him. “Right, the zombies. Where the hell did they come from, and am I going to have to start putting PR spin on things?”

“Well, the best answer I can come up with would be to draw a phrase from the 40K fans, and simply blame ‘warp-fuckery’. Some nameless horror attacked an Ihm ship in chaotic space, and left the infection behind. Zombies happened, as zombies do, and because there were no nomads on board, no one had a plan for containing them until things spread out of control.”

“You mean, like the Legion Plague.”

“Yeah, except that fucker was trying to keep things quiet for as long as possible, so he deliberately slowed the rate of infections. The zombies did not care. And the corporations were too busy trying to cover things up and throwing half-trained corpsec at the problem that they not only didn’t fix it, but made it worse. That’s what happens when you treat a zombie outbreak like you do riots.”

“Right. So, going back to the zombies. Is this a one-off, or do I need to start prepping survival horror spin for areas of the game, now? I don’t want to be caught off guard.”

Isaac considered for a moment. “Not sure. Probably just a randomly generated event that the AI put in. But if it happened once, it could happen again. I’ll get with the AI in charge, and start coming up ways to add in preparedness plans. Start it with infectious disease outbreaks, I guess. If a quarantine had been put in place early enough, the planet could have been saved.”

Morgan nodded. “All right. And what about the zombies, did blowing up the planet take care of the problem?”

Isaac looked to the data feeds. “Yeah, seems like the zombies had mostly moved to several equatorial cities, where the last holdouts of the living were before they got overwhelmed. So, something like 98% of the zombies were atomized in the initial impacts. The rest, well, we’re talking about BIG explosions. Nothing survived. Even the area on the poles were broken up into a spray of material with the largest being the size of a bus.”

“So, the zombies are gone?”

“Yeah, unless someone else runs into the source of these things, then they’re gone, for now. And, yes, I already checked the logs, and none of them made it out of the system before Black Star got there.”

“OK. In that case, I don’t see a need to go into it, too much. The players already have a good handle on things.”

“Well, if you’re concerned, you can always check up on Mollen when we have that meeting with him.” When Morgan raised an eyebrow at him, he grinned. “Remember, regarding the psychic wave? I got word from the tech division that the medical people have gone over what happened, thanks to the data from his medical pod. They freaked out a bit when he went into what was basically a coma for thirty-six real-world hours. The doctor in charge wants to be in on the meeting, and speak with him, personally.”

“All right, I’ll set things up.”