Into the Black

(Flag Bridge, BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, Interstellar Space)

“We’ve broken free of the system, sir. Enemy forces are pursuing, but holding 1.5 light hours back, matching our course and speed. They will not be able to catch us before we reach the Eye.”

I nodded at Raven’s report. One fewer problem to deal with, then. “And the anchor drives?”

Raven shook her head. “Still offline. I believe that it is the energy from Hellspace itself that is affecting the drives. If it weren’t for the evidence of the Pallbearer, I would say that it could be a natural phenomenon.”

“Natural, how?”

“We still do not fully understand how the Anchor Drives or Gateways work. However, we know that they are designed to function in real space, with defined parameters. Hellspace, on the other hand, is too chaotic to have anything like defined parameters. It could be that Anchor Drives are simply incompatible with areas saturated with Hellspace energies.”

“But the Pallbearer managed to jump, despite being in a system highly charged with Hellspace energies.”

“Exactly. But I don’t know what could be happening. It could be something peculiar to this area of space, or something to do with how the rifts locally were hopened. Or it could be that there was some weapon placed in Hellspace that did this.”

“And, given how they’ve seemed to know that we were coming, they could have set this up to ensure that we got taken out of the fights to come.”

Raven nodded. “That is the working hypothesis at the moment.”

“All right, then. Have all ships stop trying to charge the Anchor Drives. There’s no way out but through. We can’t take the ships chasing us in a straight fight, but we might be able to lose them in the Eye of Despair.”

There was a cough from the side, where Jaynie, my bodyguard for the day, was standing. “Getting into the eye sounds all well and good, but how do we get out of the eye, once everything’s done?”

I took a breath, and said, “Yeah, I haven’t quite figured that one out yet. But if we stay, we lose at least half the fleet, for certain. Especially if the lizards turn on those secondary shields which protect against Starbolts. And, even now, they’re keeping out of range of our Starbolts.”

I turned back to the plot. “No, we have to keep going. In Hellspace, we at least have a shot of getting away from the Armada. In real space, we’re screwed. So, this is what we’ve got.”

It was a risk, I knew. But there wasn’t any other choice. We had to get away from the ships chasing us, and our supposed trump card, the Anchor Drives, were useless at the moment. The only answer was to try and escape through Hellspace. It wasn’t a great answer, or even a particularly good one, but it was the only one they had.

“How long until we breach the Eye?”

“One hour at current speed, Admiral.”

I nodded slowly. “Give me a five-minute warning before we hit the eye.” Raven acknowledged the order, and I began trying to figure a way out of this. I had a little under an hour to try and figure a way for us to get out of Hellspace once we’d gotten in.

Normally, I would have simply hired the Chaos Brigade to help us. They had the necessary tools and experience, after all. Unfortunately, they were off on their black crusade, slaughtering the X’thari look-alikes. Best estimates gave them a month or more before they could regroup and get back out here to help us.

That was acceptable as a last-ditch fallback plan, but I wasn’t going with it until we were truly out of options. I had no interest in spending that long in Hellspace. Running the shields that long was a recipe for disaster, especially when confronted with how crews got bored, even in hellspace, and bored crews were dangerous crews. Shields going offline for a moment, for whatever reason, could actually doom a ship, possibly even a fleet.

No, I needed a better solution. One that wouldn’t leave my people sitting in Hellspace, just waiting praying that the shields don’t falter or break down. We needed a better solution, but I’d be damned if I knew what it was.

(Fleet Command Cluster, IAS Shield of Faith, Interstellar Space)

High Warleader Urzo Hakzex sat with her claws gripping the edge of her command chair, watching the plot like a predator stalking prey. Fitting, since she was indeed stalking prey. And prey worthy of one of her station, as well!

The Black Star Company and its Black Star Navy had been a constant thorn in the side of the Imperium for too long. The brash upstarts with their Nomad leadership thought that they could simply dominate everything, changing the careful balance of the universe to suit their whims. They did not accept reality for what it was, but demanded that it change to suit their needs.

And too many weak-willed Ihm listened to their treasonous talk. Even respectable members of the Armada had been swayed by their lies, ignoring the perfection of Ihm culture, that perfection that had always led their people to victory before. The former Warleader and her pet marine commander had publicly shamed the Imperium, and then not had the decency to die, but had run like cowards, and placed themselves under Black Star’s protection.

After Black Star’s intervention at Sedara and Uldat, the Imperatrix had demanded that Black Star be forced to pay for their crimes against the Imperium, and its Perfection. When the Homeworld had been destroyed by a cowardly attack using weapons that had to have come from Black Star, it had roused a great anger throughout the Armada. Thankfully, the Imperatrix survived, though she was trapped within the Godsrealm and could not yet step back outside the areas that were not yet within the Eye of God. But She could still communicate to her people, and she demanded that the Black Stars be crushed.

To that end, two full Armadas had been placed in the Godsrealm, forewarned by the Imperatrix’s new power to foresee the future. There, they lay in wait, until the treacherous Black Stars unleashed another of their cowardly surprise attacks. Many loyal Ihm were sacrificed to sell the bait, but it had worked!

The hated enemy had shown, as they had been projected to. And, as the Imperatrix had promised, they had not been able to use their Anchor Drives to run away. The death of Ihmana had not gone to waste. Instead, it powered a field that would keep any ships from using Anchor Drives anywhere close to the Eye of God.

The hairless apes, realizing that they could not scurry to safety, turned and fled before the might of the Ihm Armada. But Hakzex had planned for that likely outcome. The Nomad leading the Black Stars was unwilling to risk his ships in open battle, unless he was cheating to ensure his side held supremacy, or he was forced into a position where he couldn’t flee. That he would choose to flee in the only direction open to him was a foregone conclusion.

Some questioned why they did not simply complete the encirclement, and force the Nomad’s forces into battle. But Hakzex had not come to her position by simply rushing into an assault without thinking. From the moment this ‘mercenary’ came onto the scene, and started making a name for himself, she had ordered a team from the intelligence groups to gather what information they could about this Nomad, and others.

They had discovered that the Nomad was fond of quoting the work of an ancient Terran general, from the time when the humans were still using beasts of burden and hand-made weapons to fight their battles. This general had written a text, presumptively titled the Art of War. As if he truly knew war.

But she knew her Jox Ekadu. ‘Know what your enemy knows. By knowing their knowledge, you know their path. By knowing their path, you can destroy them before they finish their journey.’ So, she had read this Art of War.

It had been an interesting, though short, read. The work was similar to Ekadu’s Blessing of the War God, and held many of the same lessons. Ekadu may have even considered this ‘Sun Tzu’ a somewhat dim apprentice, if she had ever met him.

Knowing the enemy’s knowledge was key to her battle plan. ‘When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.’ This wisdom she knew from Ekadu, as well. An enemy who is surrounded and offered no quarter would rather fight and die than simply be slaughtered.

This Tzu also wrote, ‘Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve. Officers and men alike will put forth their uttermost strength.’ It was the mirror to what Ekadu wrote, ‘An army outmatched is like a wounded gethdak. If cornered, it will fight with all it has, and may yet slay its hunters. If a gap is opened, it will flee, and run until it can run no longer.’

So far, the Black Stars had been doing exactly as she had planned. Her ships were far enough back that they could not use their damnable starbolts before the ships could activate their new shields. And soon, they would be in the Godsrealm, where using the weapons was foolhardy, at best.

Not that she doubted the Black Stars wouldn’t use the torpedoes, if trapped and forced to fight. So, once inside the Godsrealm, she would hunt them, her ships advancing enough to take on their rearmost ranks, driving the Black Stars further and further into the Godsrealm, and away from aid. All the while, picking off the ships that trailed behind.

She would not corner the Black Stars. Just keep driving them. They would suffer equipment failures eventually, and then the denizens of the Godsrealm would descend upon the Black Star ships. More would fall out of line, where her ships could pounce upon them. It lacked the glory of a climactic battle, but she would destroy the Black Star Navy all the same.

“Time until the prey enters the Godsrealm?”

“Twenty minutes, High Warleader.”

She nodded, and rose from her command chair. “Very well. Signal all ships to prepare to enter the Godsrealm. Once inside, commence stage three. I will be communing with the Imperatrix.”

“As you will, High Warleader.”

She moved to her study near the Fleet Command Cluster, and got into the meditative position, supplicating herself. “Oh, blessed Imperatrix, Herald of God, First amongst the Perfected! Your servant calls now to you!”

“Yes, Hakzex. Have you destroyed the Black Stars yet?”

She shuddered as the Imperatrix’s voice, full of power and hatred for the Black Stars, entered her mind. “My Imperatrix, the Black Stars have fled before the might of the Armada. We are chasing them now into the Godsrealm, so that we might hunt them as sport, driving them like prey. The hunt will continue until the last ship falls, I swear to you!”

“And why have you not forced them into battle? You could easily destroy their paltry ships with your fleet’s might!”

“I judged it better to let the frightened gethdak tire itself with fruitless running rather than go head first into its nest, my Imperatrix. The Black Star ships are nothing to the Armada, especially once we have removed their Starbolt advantage. But cornered gethdak fights the hardest.

“It is my duty, to you, to the Imperium, and to the Goddess, to see that the Armada is ready to fight and win not just this battle, but the next, and the one after that. In a decisive battle, we would crush the Black Star Navy, completely. But, like a cornered gethdak, they would wound us. Not enough to kill, certainly, but enough that the Terran forces would be able to finish the job for them, when the Terrans inevitably attack again, not realizing their folly.”

“Very well. Hunt well, High Warleader. And bring the Nomad leading the Black Stars to me. I will feast on his soul!”

“As you command, Imperatrix.”