Formation: An Inheritance of the Fallen Novella

An ear-piercing alarm ripped through the calm of the noon watch.

Lieutenant Kaia Marinoch’s pulse quickened as she looked up from where she was helping Ensign Jetty run diagnostics on the dorsal turrets. She hurried over to the engineering station, clamping down on her emotions. Now was the time for calm. She silenced the alarm, then went to the command chair and picked up her headset, setting it for ship-wide communications. “Alarm, alarm, alarm. Fire alarm activated in frame twelve, starboard side, forward. Standing fire suppression party muster and investigate.”

Jetty crossed the bridge and queried the engineering console for more information. “XO!” he called over to Kaia, using the familiar shorthand for her command title. “We have another alarm in frame thirteen. It’s moving toward the forward magazine!”

Kaia bit back a curse. Of all the times for a fire, it had to be just as they pulled into port. This last deployment had them spend the better part of a year patrolling the Commonwealth Preserve, universally known as the milk run, without a single major incident. Until now.

“Activate fire suppression protocol. Lock down the magazine and cut all harness runs.” A drastic action, but Kaia couldn’t let the fire ignite the magazine. Beyond the risk to her crew, blowing a hole in the hull was a sure way to kill her dream of commanding her own starship.

She turned back to the engineering console. It displayed the Sewin Hawk’s layout via an orthographic top view. The Hawk was one of the newer Horizon class cruisers, with its distinctive T-shaped hull, its trio of dorsal autocannon turrets, and its dual ventral turrets. Two drive pods on the horizontal section of the T provided both prograde and retrograde thruster. Kaia watched as an angry line of red zones lit up, starting near the central drone control tower and moving outward to the compartment that stored the explosive rounds for the forward dorsal turret. Yellow markers converged on the red zones as the fire suppression teams moved into place.

Kaia activated the emergency team’s channels to listen in. “… position. Standing by. Frames twelve and thirteen evacuated.”

Kaia pressed the talk button on the headset. “DC lead, XO. Sitrep.”

Warrant Officer Brooke, the no-nonsense head of damage control, replied. “Just got into position at entry points, XO. No smoke or flames so far. Standing by to breach.”

“Proceed, DC. You have control.”

“DC has control. All teams proceed.”

They entered the red compartments. Kaia’s eyebrows furrowed as the console’s display switched to an array of live feeds from the team’s suit cameras.

The air was clear. No scorch marks marred the walls. It looked like any other compartment. Steel grey equipment racks lined the room, their lights flashing. No error codes were visible on their displays.

“No fire, repeat, no fire. Moving to the next compartment,” Brooke said, panting slightly from the weight of the firefighting suit.

The teams moved on, systematically checking each compartment. Nothing. At Kaia’s suggestion, they even pulled off bulkheads to examine the harnessing. Still nothing. They made it all the way to the magazine without finding even a spark. Kaia said a silent prayer of thanks to the Immortal Emperor.

“False alarm?” a relieved Jetty asked from behind her.

“Possibly.” Kaia realized for the first time that the Captain wasn’t on the bridge. She was about to call him when the hatch opened and Captain Marsh stalked in, followed by an admiral that she didn’t recognize. Kaia straightened and called out, “Captain on deck!”

“Status report, XO,” Captain Marsh said coldly.

“Sir.” Kaia’s eyes briefly darted to the Admiral, momentarily distracted by the scars stitching across the left side of his face. Scars were rare among flag officers who had the means and power to eliminate them. She pondered the possibility of a sorrowful motive behind it.

Kaia returned her attention to the Captain. “There was a fire reported in frame twelve heading to the forward magazine.” She reviewed their actions, finishing with, “When the DC parties got there, they didn’t find any evidence of fire. It seems like it might have been a false alarm. Out of caution, I’m having the teams check behind the bulkheads.”

Captain Marsh grunted in acknowledgement, a hint of a frown just visible under his trademark moustache. “A barely satisfactory response. You were too cautious. Next time, don’t cut the harness runs without confirming the presence of a fire. If we had to scramble, we would have been without the forward turret.”

Kaia blinked in sudden understanding. “Yes, Sir. I will keep that in mind. If it is okay with you, I will call back the DC teams.”

The Captain gave one quick nod and Kaia activated her headset. “DC Lead, this is the XO. Good job on the snap drill. You can stand down; please have your report ready for 0800 tomorrow.”

In parallel, the Captain leaned in close to the Admiral and said in a low voice, “Are you sure this is who you want? She’s a typical Harbour rat, too cautious, and she avoids fights. I can’t see what anyone would want with her other than to put her behind a desk.”

Kaia slumped at the Captain’s words. He had criticized her home colony of Saint’s Harbour before. The sad part was that he wasn’t the worst commanding officer she had served with. The Navy was filled with people who equated anyone from Saint’s Harbour with a coward.

“I’m sure,” the Admiral said.

Captain Marsh shrugged. “As you wish. Lieutenant Marinoch, this is Admiral Morven. He would like a word with you.”

A few minutes later, Kaia found herself in the Sewin Hawk’s briefing room across from the Admiral. The Captain, seeing that they were settled in, left them to speak in private. Kaia fought the urge to fidget in her seat as the Admiral held her gaze, smiling blandly. Wild thoughts ping-ponged through her head. Had she done something wrong? Maybe something from the last patrol caused an interstellar incident? That couldn’t be it. Nothing ever happened in the Commonwealth Preserve, a barren region on the rimward side of the Imperium. The Commonwealth of Tilroth acted as the Preserve’s caretakers, and they only had one rule: don’t interfere with the development of the lesser species. Which Kaia hadn’t.

Admiral Morven finally cleared his throat. “I’ll get right down to it. The Emperor, bless His eternal throne, has seen fit to give me a writ of approval for a new initiative and I’d like to invite you to try out. If you join us, not only will you have the chance to serve the Emperor directly, but also to counter threats to the Imperium wherever they may be hiding.”

Morven paused for questions. Kaia felt blindsided. The end date for her current posting on the Sewin Hawk was still a couple of years away, at which point she expected the Navy to shuffle her off to another dead-end assignment.

“Can you tell me what I’d be doing? Would I serve on another vessel? Or is this a shore posting?” Kaia asked.

Sensing her reluctance, the Admiral sat forward and made a palm-up gesture of reassurance with one hand. “I can guarantee you that this is not a shore posting. Successful candidates command their own vessels and respond to trouble spots as they flare up.”

Kaia’s heart leapt, and she allowed herself cautious optimism. Choosing her words carefully, she asked, “What happens if I’m not a successful candidate?”

“You will be returned to your old ship, no questions asked.”

On impulse, she added, “Is this a Special Forces posting?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Admiral Morven smirked, as if waiting for her to put it together.

The Navy had a long history of supporting operator teams. In fact, a few years ago, during her posting on the Basilisk, they had transported a squad of the Legion’s Black Berets. The soldiers’ sheer competence and lethal abilities were terrifying, making her almost feel sorry for the insurrectionists on Vermilion Bay.

She’d never heard of Navy personnel being tapped for a Special Forces unit, let alone someone with her background. Special Forces squads belonged to the Legion, the Imperium’s planetary combat arm. Was the Admiral putting together a team of dedicated Navy ship commanders to work with these teams?

Well, she was going to need more than you’ve been chosen. Kaia tried another line of attack. “If I may ask, why me?”

“I’ve been reviewing your record and I’m impressed with what I’ve seen.” Then Morven frowned and became more serious. “You’re from Saint’s Harbour, right?”

“Yes,” Kaia said cautiously. Her home colony’s pacifist reputation had dogged her from the onset of her naval career. Very few from Saint’s Harbour ever got assigned to military service, fewer still chose it of their own free will.

“Let me be frank with you. You won’t be getting a command in the regular Navy. Too many at the Admiralty are blinded by bias. Others don’t look kindly on someone who so visibly defies the tradition of psychometric placement.”

Kaia flinched, and her gaze dropped to the floor. Despair descended on Kaia at this blunt confirmation of her suspicions. All of her friends from the Academy had already received promotions, and the Navy should have granted her a command by now. It had gotten so bad that she was even considering leaving the Navy. Still, she didn’t want to go into Special Forces. No matter how hard she suppressed it, she was a product of her upbringing and avoided violence if she could. But if Special Forces—and all the chaos that came with it—was the only way to get a command…

“However, I do not hold the prejudices of my fellow admirals. In fact, I think you would make a fine addition to my team. I won’t lie to you—it won’t be easy. But I think you have what it takes.”

“Can I have some time to think about it?”

“Take a couple days. Are you going down to visit family?”

Kaia nodded. The Sewin Hawk was docked in the main transfer station above Tophin while they took on supplies and Captain Marsh had given her leave to go down to Saint’s Harbour.

“I’ll leave one of my men at the Crossroads Hotel. His name is Gijnat’Hav. Go see him once you have decided. It was a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant.”

“And you, Sir. Thank you for the opportunity.”