Into the Black

(Flag Bridge, BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, Hellspace)

“We’re getting the first scans back now, Admiral.”

I looked over at Raven with anticipation. Having found our way into what seemed to be some kind of ‘pocket’ in Hellspace, where there was a planet just sitting there, was weird enough. The fact that the enemy ships didn’t try and follow them into the pocket suggested that this was indeed where we were being herded towards.

“Well, what do we have?”

“First off, we are definitely still in Hellspace. Despite the relative stability locally, we cannot charge or use Anchor drives to escape.”

I grunted. That was about what I expected. No way we would be that lucky, after all. But at least the time dilation had settled down, and actually reversed a little. We were now running at a standard 2 second:1 second time dilation, meaning we were moving twice as fast as the outside world. Considering that the time dilation had been swinging wildly before, I’d take what I could get.

“What about the planet?”

“Looks to be a terrestrial world, roughly 60% land mass, with a few large oceans. Initial scans report some signs of habitation, but we are detecting no signals from the world.”

“Are we sharing this data across the fleet?”

“Yes, Admiral.”

An aide called out, “Admiral, incoming transmission from the Hrunting, Commodore Dakha on the line.”

“Put her through.” A moment later, the Ihm commander’s face appeared on the screen in front of me. “Commodore, I take it you have news for me?”

“Yes, Admiral. This planet is known to us. Its name is Thraki. It is an pasture world, devoted to growing food for our people. Specifically, it is given over to raising and breeding livestock for consumption. The choaz beasts from Thraki are considered some of the best in the Imperium.”

“So, not a military base? Nothing that would explain what is happening here?”

“No, Admiral. This is as puzzling to us as it is to the rest of the fleet. Thraki has always been a bit unusual, though. As you know, prior to the Shockwave in Sol, there were very few Ihm capable of using psy powers to any true degree of proficiency. It is one of the sticking points that has held back Ihm conquests during different conflicts, once it came to pacifying worlds the Armada captured.

“For reasons unknown to us, prior to the Eye of Despair opening, five of every seven Ihm psy users came from Thraki, from the population that was born and raised there. Only on that planet, and not elsewhere in the Imperium, even when the same genes were combined in test conditions using clones.”

I nodded slowly. “So, even before the Eye of Despair was ripped open, something on this planet was causing psychic powers to arise far more commonly than the rest of the population?”

“Indeed. Of course, the planet is sparsely populated, due to the demands of the livestock industry, but, out of the roughly ten million ihm on the planet, ten thousand showed psychic potential, a rate of 0.1%, which is ten times the average for Ihm. There have been many studies, but no one knows what is the exact cause, though it is suspected that something in the fields causes it, because three out of four of the psy users on the planet are born to families who work the fields, not the ones living in towns or the one city on the planet.”

“Admiral, Commodore,” Raven cut in. I could tell from her tone that, whatever she had found, it wasn’t going to be good.

“Yes?”

“We have completed our first pass of scans, having spread the fleet out to better accomplish the task. As expected, there are no signals emanating from the planet, but, more disturbingly, we are not picking up any signs of Ihm life on the planet. The flora and fauna are still there, but we have not found any concentrations of Ihm alive.”

Commodore Dakha’s face grew grim. “That… that isn’t possible. Even the Imperatrix wouldn’t get rid of the entire population. The food supplies Thraki produces are the primary source of rations for the Armada itself!”

That was an excellent point. No matter how depraved a ruler got, they couldn’t get away with not feeding the military, and the ones who tried would very quickly find themselves a ‘former’ ruler. If they were allowed to live at all.

I took a breath, and considered things. “Are there no life signs at all, Raven? I know there aren’t any concentrations, but are there any signs of Ihm life, at all?”

“It will take time for a detailed scan of the planet, Admiral.”

“Do it. The enemy isn’t following us in here, and, so far, nothing bad has happened. I don’t know how long that will last, or why it is, but the answers are probably on that planet. I want to know if it is safe to go down.”

“About that, Admiral, the cities and infrastructure appear to be intact. Scans reveal power is on in the city, at least. It may be possible to connect with the planet’s networks.”

“Do it. And forward the data feed to Second Group.” I turned to look at the Commodore. “Commodore, you and your people are the closest to experts on this planet that we have. I want your people to go through the information, and see what happened. If this is some kind of plague, I need to know before we send anyone down there.”

“Understood, Admiral. We’ll contact you in an hour with an update. Sooner if there is anything critical.”

“Very well. Mollen, out.”

(Elsewhere)

The Imperatrix frowned as the Black Star ships fell through the barrier of the Anomaly. So far, that place had vexed her to no end. It was like an open wound that kept getting sand into it. Now that she had completely shed her mortal form, thanks to the assassin’s destruction of Ihmana, her powers in the Godsrealm were magnified, and she could see far indeed.

But the Anomaly was shielded from her. Whatever arcane science or quirk of the godsrealm kept her people out of the Anomaly also prevented her from seeing in, even now. And it was necessary that she see in, so she could figure a way to add the world’s resources back into her own. That, or she needed to find a way to speed up the conversion of her people into the Perfected, so little things like mortal food were no longer of any concern to them.

That was something she would have to thank the assassin for, if she ever caught him. Oh, she would torture him half to death, before feeding on him again and again until there was nothing left, but she would thank him first. Because she no longer was trying to support an immortal, Perfect being inside a mortal body, she no longer needed mortal food or drink, and the number of souls she needed to consume, just to sustain herself, fell dramatically.

A soul or two each week would sustain her, now, whereas before she was going through souls as though she were a nestling given a package of sweets. But the Goddess showed her power once again, and gave her this new evolution of her abilities. She was no longer mortal, and no longer had mortal weaknesses, though that was only the tip of the iceberg, considering the extent of her powers.

The Imperatrix turned her gaze once more to the bubble of imperfection that was the Anomaly. She would need to find a way to breach that bubble, and claim everything inside. To make it Perfect. The Perfection of the Ihm Imperium, the Ihm race itself, demanded nothing less.

“Have the armadas take up position around the Anomaly. The Black Stars will have to either take down the barrier, or push outward, if they wish to escape the godsrealm. If they try to push out, then send them back inside, again and again, until the barrier falls, and I can claim my prize.”

“As you command, Most Perfect One.”

(Black Star Shipyards, Beta Darconyx System)

Captain Nesterin Zyllen walked into an observation room set in the temporary habitation section of the shipyards. His XO, Vestele Aenorin, was already there, staring out the large windows at the construction outside. Normally, they would be conducting this meeting on board his ship, but the ship was currently undergoing final checks, and Nesterin didn’t want to wait until then to get to know his new second-in-command.

“She’s a big one, isn’t she?” Aenorin gasped in surprise as he spoke, and snapped to attention, hand making a textbook salute. “At ease, Commander. There’s no one here but just us two.”

He nodded as the commander moved to a more relaxed posture, and motioned with his head at the sight out the window. “Like I said, she’s a big one. First of her kind, both in the fleet, and in the known universe. There hasn’t been a ship made by sentient hands this large since the last generational colonization ships were launched, before the discovery of the Gateways.”

Aenorin nodded. “Yes, it can’t use the Gateways, that much is obvious. Too big. Does it really just use the Anchor Drive when it wants to go anywhere beyond the speed of hyperdrives?”

Nesterin grinned. “Oh, if only it was that simple. The Hades is something special. She has hyperdrives and sublight drives, like normal ships, as well as a two-stage Anchor Drive, like the Starhunters have, a Transition Drive, and a Hellspace Rift Generator. The only known ways of traveling faster than light that this beauty doesn’t have is the Darkspace Drive and the ability to go through Gateways.”

The Commander shook her head. “Incredible. What prompted Corporate to commission something like this? I mean, this is a whole lot of ship. And that isn’t counting the hangar where they have those special Crows and the marine drop ships? I was able to see them being loaded, and they are most certainly not the standard model.”

“Good eye, Aenorin. Those are the Charon-Variant Drop Ships, and the Valkyrie-Variant Crows. They are designed to take their crews and cargo into Hellspace, and fight the corporation’s enemies there.”

He took a breath. “As for why Corporate decided to make the Hades? Command tells me that the order came directly from the top. As in the Man himself. Scuttlebutt says that, seeing what the Chaos Brigade was getting up to, and the fact that the Ihm went and lost their damn minds, he wanted to ensure that if anyone from Hellspace wanted to make themselves into enemies of the Corporation, he wouldn’t have to wait for them to come and hit us, playing defense. He would much rather go on the attack.”

Aenorin nodded slowly. “That definitely makes sense, given everything I’ve heard about Him. Well, everything that doesn’t involve his personal life. I’m fairly certain the stories of him bedding half of Nuevo Edo’s government don’t have anything to do with this ship.”

Captain Zyllen laughed, and clapped Aenorin on the shoulder. “Good one, Commander. And I’ll admit that I wouldn’t want to know what kind of ship Hades would be if she were built to respond to those rumors!”

One of the doors to the observation room slid open, and the sound of hurried footsteps coming their way caused the two officers to turn. An ensign in the Navy, bearing the patch marking them as part of the Shipyard staff, was rushing their way, only barely moving at a speed less than a run. Given the look of him, the young human had run most of the way here from wherever he’d been.

Gasping, the ensign snapped to attention and saluted. “Captain Zyllen, sir! Orders from Command, eyes only.”

Zyllen took the offered envelope, and nodded. “Dismissed, Ensign.” As the ensign turned, and made his escape, he opened the envelope, and extracted the sheet of paper inside.”

His breath caught in his throat. The Commander did not miss the momentary lapse in control. “What is it, Sir?”

“The Admiral and Owner have disappeared into the Eye of Despair, pursued by four armadas of the Ihm Armada. Our launch date has been pushed up. Unfortunately, instead of a proper shakedown cruise, we’re going to get thrown into the thick of things. We need to go and rescue the rest of the Black Star Navy.”