Chapter 246 - Investigation

(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.”

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Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Memoirs of a Supervillain - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9NWS8J

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
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Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X

Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y

City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR

SCI Stories (Dark Supervillain story):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RL93VQN

Winterborn (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082S3S3K8

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

Chapter 245 - Looking for Answers

(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?

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Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Memoirs of a Supervillain - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9NWS8J

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB

Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X

Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y

City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR

SCI Stories (Dark Supervillain story):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RL93VQN

Winterborn (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082S3S3K8

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

Chapter 244 - Preparedness

(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.”

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Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Memoirs of a Supervillain - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9NWS8J

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB

Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X

Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y

City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR

SCI Stories (Dark Supervillain story):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RL93VQN

Winterborn (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082S3S3K8

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

Chapter 243 - Planning

(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?”

Previous Chapter                                       Table of Contents                                     Next Chapter



Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Memoirs of a Supervillain - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9NWS8J

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB

Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X

Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y

City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR

SCI Stories (Dark Supervillain story):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RL93VQN

Winterborn (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082S3S3K8

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T