Into the Black

(Flag Bridge, CNS Wrath of Gadran, Dimiya System)

Admiral Kasyx Rizazzi cursed as he watched the rift over Ydan began to form. His curses only grew as the new ‘secret long-range communications technology’ that Naval Intelligence brought in promptly melted down, at the exact same time that Nomads across the fleet went down, screaming in pain. That was a coincidence he didn’t have time to dig into now, but he would definitely be asking questions, later.

For now, however, war had come to the Dimiya system, and he needed to focus on the fight. “All ships to battle stations! Form up, and set course for Ydan. I want us there, yesterday!”

The orders passed throughout the fleet. His captains and crews were good people. Some of the ships were new, but the fleet itself was full of solid officers and crewmen. Seventy percent of the fleet were veterans of the Second Battle of Coldana, after all, as they destroyed the Harvester. They weren’t some soft crew used to being a Navy fleet in name only.

“Alert Dimiya traffic control. All civilian ships are to land immediately, or leave the system by the most expedient means. Send the emergency alert to the rest of the Navy.”

As he gave the orders, one of his officers looked up from his console. “Admiral, we have an incoming communication from the Black Stars. Commodore Keh Dakha on the Hrunting is asking to speak to you.”

Rizazzi smiled. If there was one thing he knew about the Black Stars, it was that they couldn’t help throwing themselves into a fight, if one presented itself to them. And he’d had more than a few dinners with Commodore Dakha since she’d won the post of commanding Black Star’s Second Group. They’d fought side by side at Coldana, after all.

“Put her through.”

The plot of the system in front of him changed to an image of the Commodore, on her own flag bridge. “Commodore Dakha, as good as it is to see you, I’m afraid you’re a bit early for our poker night.”

The Ihm female smiled. “Admiral, after how much you complained about your mate always being late, I would have thought you’d appreciate a woman calling you early!”

There were good-natured smiles on his officers’ faces, the simple jokes doing much to break the tension. “Be that as it may, I’m afraid the time is somewhat precarious. I take it you’ve been in contact with your leader?”

The Commodore shook her head. “Only through traditional means. Whatever is happening, it has attacked all Nomads, everywhere. Whether that was by design or just a side-effect is unknown, but all Nomads are now cut off from their communications ability.”

Rizazzi sucked in his breath. He didn’t believe for a second that it was merely a side-effect, and he could tell Dakha didn’t, either. “Well, that is unfortunate. What did Admiral Mollen have to say about that?”

Dakha laughed. “As you can imagine, he is less than happy. First, Fourth, and Fifth Groups will be joining us here at Dimiya shortly, via Anchor Drive. I am sending you the coordinates where they’ll be arriving. Be aware, our ships have detected signs of X’thari in the neighborhood over the past few weeks, so anyone arriving by anchor drive somewhere else in the system should be considered hostile, until proven otherwise.”

Rizazzi nodded. “I’ll be glad for the reinforcements. How long until they arrive?”

“Forty-five minutes. In the meantime, Second Group will support the Confederate Navy, and the defense forces we have around Black Star Station will help cover the orbital space around Dimiya, should anything get through.”

“That is much appreciated. If this threat is coming from Hellspace, as it looks, then Black Star is the only group in the Confederacy with experience fighting them. Don’t suppose you have any hints?”

“All ships should put psychic shielding systems to full power, and all crew members should be armed. The more the rift expands, the more likely they’ll try to send borders through microrifts. Both here, and on the ground.”

The Admiral turned to one of his officers. “Order all ships to go to full psychic shielding, and have all crew members armed, and prepared to repel boarders. Alert Ydan Planetary Command to institute psychic shielding on all secure government facilities, and copy to Dimiya Command.”

Looking back at Dakha, he said, “Thank you for the heads-up, Commodore. We’re opening the tactical net for you, same protocols as with Coldana. Your people are currently between Ydan and Dimiya, and I want it to stay that way, in case anything breaks for the planet. You may have fewer ships, but we’re all aware of the punch Black Star has. My fleet is already moving in from out-system, and will try and draw as much of their attention as possible.”

“Understood, Admiral. Hrunting out.”

As the image was once again replaced by the system plot, Rizazzi growled, “Well, what are you waiting for? Get us into position! I want to hit them with everything we got, the moment anyone decides to poke their nose through the rift!”

“Aye, aye, sir!”

(Fleet Command Cluster, Choyurqi’s Challenge, in orbit of Ydan, Dimiya System)

“We have exited the rift, Warleader!”

Warleader Thess Retlux grinned savagely at the sight before her. There were Confederate Navy ships, almost four hundred of them, closing on them from the outer system. Below them, was a planet ripe for the taking, with some of the Perfected and the Perfect Goddess’s minions spreading through the population already. And, further in…

“Sensors! Confirm the identity of that ship!”

“Confirmed, Warleader. It is the BSN Hrunting.”

“All ships, converge on new target! Bring up the Divine Shields! We will wipe the traitorous bitch and her Black Star masters from the skies, and offer their souls to the Goddess! Full attack, full speed ahead!”

Truly, the Goddess was smiling upon her. Not only was her warband leading the first foray into untouched systems, but she would have a chance to destroy the traitor that had shamed the Imperium and the Imperatrix and then run from the death she so righteously deserved. No more! There would be no escape for her, here.

“Give me tarpits! Don’t let the traitors escape!”

(Flag Bridge, CNS Wrath of Gadran, Dimiya System)

“Admiral, look!”

Admiral Rizazzi cursed under his breath. The Ihm forces, all eight hundred ships, were all turning hard, and making directly for Dimiya. Wait, no. The course was just slightly wrong. They were heading for the Black Stars!

“Secondary shields appearing on the enemy fleet. Their speed has reduced by thirty percent! Power readings unchanged.”

Those had to be the shields that warded off Starbolts. “Alert Hrunting to our readings! And give me a full scan of those ships, and their shields! I want to know everything!”

“Hrunting acknowledges, Admiral. They are launching fighters. They say that they will hold until relieved. Also, Black Star reinforcements ETA ten minutes. New exit coordinates included.”

Rizazzi nodded as he looked at the screen. If nothing changed, those reinforcements would drop into the system in perfect firing position to take on the Ihm fleet. And the sensors were already detecting the energy of the anchor drive’s arrival. Stealthy, it was not, since it gave everyone ten minutes to focus attention that way. But it would give the Ihm something else to shoot at.

“Sir, the Ihm appear to be ignoring the Anchor signatures.”

Rizazzi sighed. “Then it is as I feared. The Ihm commander has lost sight of tactics, and is intent on taking down the Black Stars. We’ll just have to take advantage of the openings they give us.”

“Admiral, we’ve got sensor readings on the new shields the Ihm are sporting. Comparison to readings shared by Black Star confirm that there is a weakness in the secondary shields. They are front-focused, with only minimal shielding to the rear!”

“So, like the X’thari bastards, they are wholly focused on the attack, and don’t care about threats to the rear? Be sure that Hrunting knows this. And are we in range of the new weapons, yet?”

“Fifteen minutes to effective range. Interference from the rift is hampering targeting calculations, and there are too many inhabited planets and stations to shoot blindly. The Ihm will be in range of the Black Stars in ten.”

“Damn it all. It looks like the Black Stars are going to get all the fun! Tell the fleet I want more speed! We aren’t going to let the Black Stars claim all the kills in our home system!”

“Admiral, new sensor readings from Hrunting!”

(Flag Bridge, BSN Hrunting, Dimiya System)

Commodore Keh Dakha gave a feral grin as she looked at the oncoming fleet. Eight to one, their forces outnumbered hers. Behind her was a planet full of civilians, and her ships were the only ones that could stop the threat in time.

It was the kind of setup that the warriors of old would sing of, if they hadn’t been corrupted by the Imperatrix and the madness spread by her new goddess. But she’d left the Imperium behind, and good riddance. She would never have been part of what they had become now.

Of course, her leaving, and the way she had left, was a slap in the face to the Imperium, and the Imperatrix in particular. The way she’d helped thwart them afterwards only increased their anger at her, it seemed. After all, why else would Hrunting be registering over eight hundred enemy vessels all locking weapons on her flagship? And even going so far as to ignore the incoming signals of an Anchor drive’s imminent arrival?

Somebody over there wasn’t thinking. Or, rather, had they had been so focused on her, that they’d lost all objectivity. Either way, this was an opportunity. If she could survive it.

“Launch Shuttle Mirage.”

“Shuttle launched, ma’am.”

“Fleet to carry on in formation. Order Hrunting to go to stealth. Mirage is to take up active countermeasures, and fly course one-one-zero by two-six-one. Make it look like we’re trying to draw them into a chase.”

(Flag Bridge, CNS Wrath of Gadran, Dimiya System)

“What is it, Lieutenant?”

“Sensors picked up a brief distortion over the Hrunting, but it went away before we could analyze it. Now the flagship has broken away from the rest of the Black Star ships, and looks to be attempting to escape the battle! All sensors, including visual, confirm!”

“Hah! Dakha stood against the Harvesters and the entire X’thari swarm. No way she is running from a measly eight-to-one fight. Assume that it is a trick. What are the rest of the Black Stars doing?”

“Continuing on track, sir. They’ll be in weapons range of the Ihm in three minutes.”

“Status of the Ihm?”

“They are turning to chase Hrunting, sir. Time to intercept, four minutes.”

“Bait. I don’t know what that signal is, but it isn’t the Hrunting. It is bait to lure the Ihm into doing just this. The sensor distortion must have been to cover the actual Hrunting engaging stealth measures!”

The Lieutenant shook his head in wonder. “I’ve heard about such systems before. Confederate One is supposed to have something similar, but that’s just a shuttle! No one’s ever tried something like that with a battleship before!”

Rizazzi chuckled. “That’s because no one has ever had stealth battleships before. And for them to even fool visual sensors? That is impressive.” He shook his head. “When we ask them after it is all done, I expect we’ll find that it is simply a new application of old technologies, combined in such a way that physics cries at the thought of it. And the scientists will be ripping their hair out, wondering why they never thought of it.”

An alarm sounded. The lieutenant quickly turned back to his sensors. “Alert! Anchor drives incoming, not at Black Star coordinates! Many, many drives!”

Rizazzi nodded. “I guess that the X’thari that have been creeping closer smelled the Anchor drives, and decided to play. Where are they going to come out?”

“Six light-minutes from the Black Star position, above the ecliptic. They will be within range of the new weapons.”

“Right. If the X’thari have decided to come and play, then the least we can do is offer them a door prize. All ships, load Lightstrike torpedoes. Carriers to scramble bombers, also armed with Lightstrikes. Go to computer control, interlocked firing programs. Fire so that the X’thari show up just in time to enjoy our gifts!”