Frozen Soul, and other works

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Chapter 112 - The Scout

(Independent Trader Precious Harlot, Nuevo Edo Gateway)

It will be good to get somewhere civilized, so I can get this damn plug out of my ass.

In the privacy of her own mind, Samantha Michaels, slave-pilot of the Precious Harlot, cursed her Master for making her wear the large plug inside her ship suit for the duration of their trip to Nuevo Edo from Consortium space. Fortunately, the Gateway took off most of the distance or she’d have been REALLY fucking sore by the time they got to Nuevo Edo.

Her Master was a Gauz male, the Owner/Operator of the Precious Harlot. Why would a Gauz have a human slave as his pilot? Basically it boiled down to their different strengths. When it came to designing, building, and upgrading machines, the Gauz were still considered the best there were, even with the Nomads coming in and throwing off the averages. Their mercenaries were so well renowned that there were full-on armored units that would take one look at a position held and fortified by Gauz units, and either find a way to go around, or call in an orbital bombardment. Anything else was basically begging to lose upwards of seventy percent of your force, especially if they’d had time to really dig in.

However, they couldn’t pilot for shit. Oh sure, they had a few (mostly females, for whatever reason) that had the ‘knack’ for flying, but most were simply too methodical for their own good. Which was perfectly fine if you were running a shipping company in nice, safe areas with either military escorts or military not far off so you could deal with raiders. Not so great if you needed anything remotely requiring fancy flying.

So the Gauz, pretty much as soon as they’d made first contact with other species, and found that some of them were damn fine pilots, began acquiring their services. Sometimes that involved hiring them on. Sometimes it didn’t. It was the poorest kept secret in the galaxy that the largest importer of slaves in Known Space was the Consortium, and humans were their favorites, since they were adaptable, and prolific breeders, meaning there was always a ready supply if a slave got uppity or broken and needed to be replaced.

Unfortunately for Samantha, she had not understood the full situation when she had decided to start the game in Consortium space, not wanting to deal with the Civil War or the possibility of the Confederacy invading. Since local laws were fairly devious in how they supported ‘traditional’ Gauz culture, she had quickly found herself judicially enslaved thanks to some violation she still didn’t understand, and had been sold to her bastard of a Master, Aldreac Coppercoat.

She’d been going for a DEX-based build, since she’d wanted to be a gadgeteer (hence why she’d gone with the Gauz Consortium to begin with), but she hadn’t so much as touched tools in months, not since they’d given her skill downloads to make her a Pilot and a Courtesan. So now she was the primary pilot for the Harlot, and the primary bedwarmer for her master, with a Defiance collar to make sure she behaved. The only good thing about any of this was that the bastard didn’t like to share. As long as he was happy with her, she wasn’t at risk of being passed around to the crew.

Oh, she also had the role of ‘emergency medic’, since she’d been taught a Psy Power called ‘Pain Transfer’. Basically, she took damage from one person and gave it to another, healing target A to damage target B. The basic version was touch range, but her Master had paid to get her taught an upgraded version, which gave her a range of about ten meters. Not exactly ideal, but she could transfer damage from one person within ten meters of her to another person within ten meters. So far, she had been able to get away with just acting as a conduit, for the most part, instead of taking damage herself, but whether she took the damage or not, she felt everything. And it sucked.

She had considered having an ‘accident’ that killed everyone on the ship, but she’d put that aside so far. Not only did she not have any resources to pull off an escape like that Black Star guy did, but she’d been reading up on the forums, and if an enslaved Nomad went splat with their non-Nomad owners, then when they respawned it was as an ‘escaped slave’, and were subject to capture until they got their collar or chip removed. And she (quite rightly) wasn’t trusted with anything more critical than navigation and the piloting controls, so she couldn’t ‘accidentally’ space the fucker and fly on with her new ship.

She sighed to herself, and followed the instructions from Nuevo Edo control. They had four ‘gunboats’ by the gate, though it took her a while to see the second set. The first two were clearly local government, nice and visible so everyone knew the locals were armed. The second set shadowing them were Black Star craft. Even as a slave, she’d heard about what the Black Stars had done in that recent war in the Empire. She did not want to mess with those ships. Fortunately, the Harlot was a legitimate trader, even if they sometimes went questionable places, so they shouldn’t have trouble.

Of course, as a legitimate trader, they had commercial hyperlight engines, and that meant in-system FTL wasn’t really an option, since it took the engines too long to warm up. They were extremely efficient, about twenty to thirty times less fuel intensive than military models, but they did not react well to sudden transitions into or out of FTL speeds. That meant they were in for a nine hour cruise to Nuevo Edo. Not seeing anything on the screens to give her pause, she followed her standard orders for in-system flight, and set things on automatic before leaning back in her chair to rest. She wasn’t allowed to leave her station until she was relieved, or her Master called her to his bed. However, the asshole at least didn’t expect her to be constantly awake, so long as she was at her post and ready to take over if the alarms went off.

(Hunter-Scout Ship, Nuevo Edo system)

It had taken the Scout a long time to slip into the system unnoticed. These prey were not so soft and helpless as they were the last time the Hunters had been this way. They had ships that were of a design they had not seen, and they were armed, that much the Scout could tell easily from the scans of the white ships. This did not worry the Scout.

No, what worried (worried? Perhaps not. Concerned? Yes, that was better) – concerned the Scout was that they were detecting ripples in the Great Fabric where they could not sense the presence of ships. If the prey had developed, or gained access to, technology that allowed them to hide their ships from the Scout’s scans, then that meant the Prey might be worthy of the attention of the Hunters. But the Scout needed to know more before the rest of the Hunters were informed. Ripples across the Great Fabric were too indistinct to be used to target the Hunting ships, after all.

The Scout needed to find a suitable Prey to capture so they could get the information needed. Fortunately, one of the Prey ships were floating close to the Scout now, unaware that a Hunter was hidden in the blackness nearby. For a zithad, the Hunter considered the different ways to take the Prey ship without ruining the Prey inside, preferably without alerting the entire system that the Hunter was here. This Prey promised to be challenging enough to hunt. There was no need to put the whole system on alert because their drives were discovered.

The Prey ship was an old design, unlike the new ones that could be seen and felt across the system. The Hunters had records of this kind of ship from the fighting in another arm of the galaxy. These Prey ships were used to carry goods from place to place, and rarely ran with more than minimal shields unless they were warned of trouble. But they did not see the Scout. A lance to two specific parts of the ship would leave the Prey ship dead in the water, and unable to communicate with the rest of the system. It would take the skill of a trained Hunter to make the shots. For a Hunter Scout, the skill required was like accompanying a youngling on the First Hunt.

(Independent Trader Precious Harlot, Nuevo Edo)

Samantha awoke to the sound of alarms going off across the bridge, coupled with the feeling of weightlessness as the ship’s artificial gravity stuttered, and then failed altogether as main power failed. Emergency power kicked in, but the Master had long ago decided not to use the emergency batteries to power something like gravity, when they could get more time on life support so they could try and fix the problem with the mains. Immediately, she sent out the distress signal, only to find that whatever had happened to them had destroyed their communication array.

That was not good. She brought up damage reports, and cursed. They hadn’t been hit by asteroids. Those were Grav Lance weapons! Who the hell still used grav lances? They were the ultimate in short-range weapons, sure, but the maximum range for those things had to be only a few thousand kilometers…

Oh shit. Looking back to the sensor readings, she tried to find where the ship that hit them was, but nothing was on her screens. Just a little trace heat a thousand meters off their bow. Wait, switching to visual scanners, she was able to see that something was damn close to the Harlot, thanks to how the blackness blocked the stars. They had a ship closing in on them! Ramming? No. They were going to dock!

CLUNK!

The sound carried through the weightless innards of the ship, as the alien ship locked on to their hull. Quickly, Samantha hit the controls that locked the bridge down, and watched on the internal cameras to see what happened. She could see the Gauz crew, including her Master, trying to set up a position in the cargo bay, but the lack of gravity made that difficult, but they managed to get to the door of the main corridor and lock in with their mag boots, ready to kill anything that came through the glowing outline that said someone was cutting through their hull.

Samantha saw the glowing outine shine, and sparks flew as the cutter penetrated the hull cleanly enough. Then the metal section of hull was pushed, slowly floating into the cargo bay. She cursed as the hull section moved in front of the camera she’d had trained on the cargo hold, and she heard shouts of anger and alarm from the crew. Whatever they saw was not what they’d been expecting. She could see blasts coming the other way on the corridor camera.

Right, she had to do something. But what? She had sealed the bridge, but she had no power and no communications. She didn’t even have a weapon in here, other than the plug in her ass, and she didn’t think that would impress anyone who got past the crew. If only anyone on her friends list was in system… Wait, the in-system chat!

(Nomad OOC Chat – Nuevo Edo System)

Parca: Seriously, Boss, when we going to go and get some action again? The boys are getting restless.

GunKitty: Poor flyboys. Go on down to the surface and impress those ladies with your war stories. The Marines have seen so much ‘action’ that I think even they are starting to ask for a break.

MajorTom: Never thought I’d see the day, but yeah, I’m hearing a couple are getting tired out.

SammyBaby has entered the chat.

SammyBaby: HELP! Independent trader Precious Harlot en route to Nuevo Edo from the Gateway is under attack! We’ve lost engines, lost communications, and are being borded!

M.Mollen: Parca, scramble the alert fighters. Raven will send you coordinates.

Parca: On it!

Parca has left the chat.

M.Mollen: Sammy, any details you can give us? Ship type, species, what the borders look like?

SammyBaby: Ship is black, only saw it because it blocked stars as it docked with us. Camera in the cargo hold is blocked by debris as we are null-grav. I’m currently locked down on the bridge. Rest of the crew is down. Unknown if dead or stunned. I see them… Oh god!

M.Mollen: What are they, Sammy?

SammyBaby: X’thari! We are under attack by X’thari raiders!

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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

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4 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

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

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Chapter 157 - Trade Chat VIII

MightKord, Dread_Doom, Scholar, Might_Makes_Right, l33tpally, Darkmore, Darkmore’s Knight, Darkmore’s Bitch, Killjoy, Darkbreaker, Bercilac, Raunaeril, Spooky, Lexichan, Cookie, LivingDeadDrow, Ruva, BrokenMight, Firemane, Daywalker, Lord_Kickass, Duelist, NotTheFace!, DestinedDemon, Magick, Balderdash, Chamber, Sexy_Lady, DoorKicker, Gobby, Anonymous3, Anonymous5, RighteousAmazon, BlessedSoul, Crusader, HolyMage, and Crackle are in the chat.

Scholar: Wow, can’t believe AAO has already been out for a whole year IRL! Seems like just yesterday I got to start delving into the lore of this world.

DoorKicker: Seriously. Although it has been four years in game. Still kindof surprising how things have gone since then.

Crackle: Remember when the biggest news was a PvP between Chainmaker and Chainbreaker?

Scholar: That takes me back. A lot of crazy events have happened since then.

Magick: You mean like a dragon goddess putting a city in a bottle until they killed off the descendants of the people who captured her?

Balderdash: I heard the elves almost had a Zombie Apocalypse, too.

MightKord: And then there was the epic battle to free Duskhaven.

Anonymous3: And just after, someone went and cleaned out the bandits and undead that were making travel to the Tribeslands difficult.

Sexy_Lady: Ooh, and Darkmore kicking open a door to the Abyss.

BlessedSoul: The bastard also got the favor of a Champion of Moradin somehow.

Ruva: There was the first full Guild Raid, and the establishment of a Guild-owned dungeon!

Lexichan: And then there was the whole deal where Sharess basically blessed the capitol of the Drow to have a LOT of children, really fast.

Scholar: The war between the humans and Wyrmwood was intense as hell.

BlessedSoul: And thanks to that, there is a bastion of light in this dark world, with Ograin coming under the jurisdiction of the Temples.

Might_Makes_Right: Hey, BS, didn’t I see you taking out some bandits outside Duskhaven? Just before I could get there and claim their bounty? How did you get that ‘no hitting evil’ thing dropped?

BlessedSoul: After I carried that asshole’s brat to term, and gave her to the temple of Sharess, I talked to Scholar, who pointed me towards a very difficult quest chain. I managed to complete it about two months ago, and the reward was the ability to remove one curse binding my character.

Darkmore: Interesting. And I’m assuming this allowed you to counter the penalty of the Demon’s Duel?

BlessedSoul: Yes, you bastard. Though only partly. Each section of the penalty apparently acts as a separate curse, but one that can’t be removed by normal means. But I can kill evil things again, thanks to the item.

Anonymous3: Was that a single use item?

BlessedSoul: Yes. But the quest is repeatable, if you go through the whole ritual. Since the ritual includes travel, on foot, practically across the world, that isn’t really something most people want to do more than once.

Killjoy: Damn, still, it is pretty cool that there’s an option out there for people who are under some kind of curse that isn’t typically curable.

BrokenMight: Scholar, how much did you sell that quest chain for?

Scholar: Well, my price was pretty reasonable. In addition to a small finder’s fee, I simply required that she bring me along and keep me protected while we worked through the chain, splitting loot evenly, as any party would.

BlessedSoul: The fact that I was still inside the two-year period for being forced to have Courtesan as a profession and practicing it twice a day meant nothing to you, I’m sure.

Chamber: What kind of quest chain takes, what, almost three years to complete?

BlessedSoul: I probably could have completed it earlier if I hadn’t been forced to practice my profession twice a day for two years. I had only suffered for ten months before I was able to get in touch with Scholar.

Scholar: Eh-heh.

Chamber: So you had to take more time off because you got knocked up again?

BlessedSoul: Twice. I’ve pushed out two of his brats already.

Scholar: You still have your figure, though, thanks to the game.

BlessedSoul: Which is the only reason I haven’t killed you.

Scholar: Love you, too, Honey.

Darkmore’s Knight: Oooh! ‘Honey’? Has the vaunted bookworm conquered the heart of the righteous assassin?

BlessedSoul: Well, um, you can’t travel together for that long, constantly, um, ‘practicing my profession’ without some kind of connection happening.

Darkmore: Good on you two. Is it an official match, then, or are you perhaps waiting on the ceremony?

Scholar: Um, you see that’s one of the problems we’ve been working with. We are in different guilds, different churches, and she’s pretty confirmed light side while I’m more neutral, so finding someplace to do the ceremony without causing issues is getting problematic.

Darkmore’s Bitch: Have a small ceremony at a multifaith temple, like you see in some of the smaller towns. That way, you don’t need to deal with the whole ‘whose church do you go to’ thing.

Cookie: And you can send video to anyone who might get upset with the other guests!

Might_Makes_Right: Actually, if you want to make sure not to slight anyone, just invite people you know IRL, if any are in game, and then send the video to everyone in your friends lists and guilds. Small church helps with that, too, since there isn’t room for everyone to show up.

l33tpally: Why not just go with a big space and invite everyone?

MightKord: *sigh* Pally, are you nucking futs? BlessedSoul is a light-sider, and one of the ones who tried hitting Darkmore. Scholar is IRL friends with Johnist, from Aria, and has worked with Darkmore a few times from what we’ve seen on the boards. That’s not going to end well.

Balderdash: Yeah, that’s a situation that would either end in blood, or tears, or sex. Maybe some combination of those.

Darkmore: Hey, I wouldn’t cuckold a friend like that. Now, if they were into sharing, that’s another story entirely, and I’d be willing to loan some exotics to Scholar for ‘research’. Anyways, besides the point. I wouldn’t start something at a wedding I was invited to.

MightKord: But if someone, like the bride, got pissed at you being in sight of her and started something.

Darkmore: Well, yes, I’d have to finish it, obviously.

Lexichan: You most certainly are NOT going to the wedding, then.

Darkmore: Fine, fine.

Cookie: Awww. But it would be so beautiful. Montegues and Capulets and…

Ruva: You do know that most everyone died in that story, right?

Cookie: Details! Insignificant details compared to the romance!

Crusader: Blessed, congratulations on breaking the curse, and on your nuptuals.

HolyMage: Indeed. Many congratulations. Something I’ve been wondering, have you gotten your children tested for classes yet?

Scholar: Well, you’re supposed to wait until they’re 5 to do a full test.

Crackle: But a partial test?

Scholar: Fine, fine. I may have Observed the kids, which didn’t give me much beyond race and gender, as you expect, but they did have titles.

RighteousAmazon: Titles out of the womb? Amazing!

BlessedSoul: We were really surprised, too.

Darkmore: Titles from the womb are rare, but not unheard of, if one or both of the parents are powerful, or have significant titles.

Scholar: Wait, how did you know this but I only found out when I was checking my children?

Darkmore: Servant of the Goddess of Fertility, remember? Also, at last count I had at least fifty children. While ‘Local’ children are rarely born with titles, it seems like all children with a Traveler parent has at least one title at birth.

Crackle: FIFTY?

MightKord: My god. I knew you were going a bit wild, but how…

Darkmore’s Bitch: Servant of Sharess, remember? He has spells that can ensure someone gets pregnant, or keep them from getting pregnant.

Darkmore: What can I say? I’ve been busy spreading my love as far and wide as I can.

Darkmore’s Knight: Just like you did with the Princesses’ legs.

Darkmore: Yes, yes. We all know you prefer it when I lift your tails up from behind.

Lexichan: *giggles*

Cookie: But actually, other than Zayn’s conquests, many of the people in Aria have kids. Seems like when you don’t have those light side rules being all judgy at you about who you sleep with, there are more kids. And we’ve got a temple to Sharess in our village, so…

Crusader: How do you have time for all that? We’ve been busy building up our kingdom, and…

HolyMage: Shh!

Bercilac: Like anyone here doesn’t know that your ‘Crusade’ has basically taken over Ograin and your leader is all but King?

Crusader: Heh.

BrokenMight: Great, there really isn’t keeping any secrets from them.

Cookie: Aww, don’t be like that, not-so-righteous might! You light types are just too visible for your own good if you want to have some secrets.

Darkmore: It is always easier to hide things in the darkness than the light.

Firemane: And the Shadow Alliance is all about hiding in the darkness and finding out secrets.

Dread_Doom: So this is why you’ve been so quiet the last couple years, Darkmore? I mean, we haven’t heard of any real craziness from you since you went and burned down half of Duskhaven.

Darkmore: Yeah, had to spend some time keeping the ladies happy while they were pregnant, and dealing with the headaches of being both a guild leader and a feudal lord. Also went and did some diplomatic visits with the orks, dwarves, and drow, but that’s nothing major.

Scholar: So by your tone, I calculate you’re about to start moving again?

Darkmore: Well, I never really stopped, but yeah, most of the kids ‘in the party’ are about two now, so while they aren’t old enough to go places on their own, it is possible to leave them in the hands of guild members and the like for a little while. We’ve been running the dungeon in Have Dorei to keep in shape and keep the XP trickling in, but now that the kids are a bit older, we’ve got grandparents that would love to see their grandkids (for the Locals in the guild).

l33tpally: So, what kinds of titles do kids of Travelers get, and what do they do?
Scholar: Well, one of mine had the Genius title (+20 INT, +2 INT/Level), and another had Shadowchild (+25% to Stealth & Move Silently, Stealth & Move Silently grow 10% faster). They each had ‘Traveler’s Soul’, but there was no description for it.

Darkmore: Traveler’s Soul is the title that any child of a Traveler gets. Their aging slows once they reach maturity, and if they are killed and not resurrected, then they can respawn 48 hours later, though they take a nasty death penalty for that. Things that would keep a player from respawning (like dying in a permadeath dungeon) keep them from respawning as well.

Scholar: Found that out from your Goddess?

Darkmore: Yeah, it was actually a bit of a surprise to the Goddesses as well, I can tell you, though they mostly were OK with it. Sharess was actually indifferent to that tidbit, and Mirelth was happy that her child would get to grow strong for sure. I’m fairly certain that Lolth cackled on her web for at least a week when she found out. Since it started circulating through the rumor mill, powerful Travelers have been sought out as brood mares and stud horses for the major houses, to breed undying warriors for the various houses.

MightKord: Huh. So is THAT the reason why I got a quest to ‘plow the fertile field’ with a priestess of Mystra?

Scholar: That, or ritual sex magic, perhaps.

MightKord: Do I want to know?

Scholar: Probably not.

Sexy_Lady: Hmm. I wonder what you could get from wealthy nobles or kings or the like to be a surrogate for their kids, if they know that their lines will be almost unkillable…

RighteousAmazon: Uh oh.

Sexy_Lady: Come on, RA! We’ve got to get you prettied up for some compensated dating!

Darkmore: Never change, Sexy.

Monday, June 11, 2018

Chapter 111 - The Return

(Nuevo Edo System)

The Gateway opened for the first time since the Prime Minister went through to try and negotiate a trade deal. The Black Star Fleet and the beginnings of the Nuevo Edo Navy were on the lookout, however, and four Gunboats (two BSN and two NEN) readied their weapons, just in case.

When the first ship came through, proving to be the Shinokage, there was a collective sigh of relief as no one was really all that eager to fight while the new NEN was still in its infancy. Sure, with skill manuals people could get the skills needed to be a military space force, but there was a difference between having a skill and being proficient with it. That required time and training. Even more than that, it required the experience in live battle that separated a green rookie from a blooded veteran.

No one really wanted to start getting the NEN blooded until they’d had some more time to train. Otherwise, most of the blood spilt might be theirs. And that would put a damper on the growing military force very quickly.

The NEN ships went about checking the incoming forces while the Black Stars watched, until finally the incoming fleet was assembled. Quickly, a message was dispatched to Nuevo Edo, so people there could hear the news. The Premier had returned from her trade mission, and had evidently had some success, as four large freighters had followed the group in.

On Nuevo Edo, the news spread like wildfire. The Premier had returned safely, which was good, but she had brought trade from ‘Known Space’, which was better. Four freighters, plus the Raven-class freighters that had gone with the fleet, did not a thriving interstellar trade make, but that was more than they’d had since the Founders had landed on Nuevo Edo.

The best news of all was that two freighters wer full of colonists: men who had heard of a colony almost bereft of males and full of females who were so desperate for companionship that the men had to be locked away for their own protection. They were mostly young craftsmen or laborers looking to make it big in a place where they had more options than they did at home. But regardless of their age or skills, they were all unattached, and more than one had said that they’d come hoping to find someone to start a family with.

In the eight hours it took for the ships to make their way to Nuevo Edo orbit, a crowd had begun to gather at the spaceport. Oh sure, there had been crowds before, when the Black Star people went down on shore leave. Most of them found it odd, and certainly exciting, since the bars they walked into were mostly female, and the women spent quite a bit of time plying them with drinks in hopes of getting some ‘companionship’, literally the reverse of most everywhere else the Black Stars had ever gone. More than a few Black Stars had lived out their fantasies of having multiple ladies at once, thanks to the proportions. But everyone knew that they were bound to the company first and foremost.

But now? These people were coming to Nuevo Edo to start a new life, and a new family. These people wanted to put down roots and join the community. They were an instant commodity, and the crowds trying to get into the spaceport were larger than they had been since the first time the Black Stars had come down on leave, with their Marines leading the way to the bars.

Just a day before, the government had finalized the law to end the protective custody of males on Nuevo Edo, and the Premier signed the virtual document as soon as she was back in communication range. Everyone knew that the changes brought by this act would be difficult, but with new men coming, and perhaps being only the first of many additions, it was hoped that the difficulties that had led to the protection orders would be avoided.

Events that would have been unthinkable back during the time of the constant fear of the Demons coming through the Demon Gate to destroy their works and capture their men were now becoming reality. Many felt as though they were living in a dream while in the waking world. Some wondered when they would wake up, while others feared the dream becoming a nightmare. But one thing was certain: for good or ill, their entire world had been completely changed, and there was no going back to the way things were.

(Owner’s Suite, Black Star Tower, Yokosaki, Nuevo Edo)

Located in the heart of Yokosaki, Nuevo Edo’s capitol city, the new Black Star Tower shone in the night sky. At twenty-five stories tall, it was hardly a skyscraper, but it was one of the taller buildings in Yokosaki all the same. The first five floors belonged to the Black Star Company, and were the site of their Nuevo Edo headquarters. Floors six through fifteen were office spaces for other companies, some of which had already been leased out to various shipping and other companies. Sixteen through twenty-four were for luxury apartments.

The twenty-fifth floor, however, was the Owner’s Suite, and if there was any living quarters that were more luxurious on the planet, then they would have to be those afforded the Premier, or some of the oldest of the Founding clans. Seeing as how the Owner (namely me) used these quarters as my base of operations here on Nuevo Edo, and I was able to design it to my taste as it was being built, that made the process relatively easy, and not that expensive.

Of course, I also used it for ‘business meetings’, like the one currently going on. According to the schedule, Assemblywoman Maria Sanchez was here to talk with the owner of the largest new business to set up shop on Nuevo Edo about him possibly supporting her in the next election. I would say we were having a very thorough discussion, exploring several positions she might take.

Currently, I was supporting her against the wall, having just found that the position of placing her knees in the vicinity of her ears while standing was a very stimulating one for her, which encouraged us both to make the conversation as vigorous as possible.

“Oh, Master!” Maria moaned into my ear as I plunged into her depths. Oh, the taking of slaves was illegal here in Nuevo Edo, but I hadn’t made her a slave. No, I had simply used a bit of mindreading. Reading her fantasies from out of her own mind was simple enough. Maria was a strong woman on a planet that had strong women by necessity, as the men had mostly been taken or killed. She was always strong, for her people, and her constituents. She was always in control.

Her fantasies, however, told me how she desired to be taken with a firm hand, a male hand, in ways she couldn’t get from the docile males at the pleasure houses. She wanted someone she could be the weak one with, and be controlled. She wanted to submit, at least in private. Fortunately, I knew just what she wanted, and I was more than happy to deliver as the twenty-two-year-old Latina woman shook her hips in ecstasy, her climax causing her to scream loud enough that it was good that I had ensured that there was plenty of soundproofing.

I grunted as I thrust deep inside her, and began to enjoy my own climax, slowly riding it out inside her as I filled her willing womb with my seed. Maria shuddered again, whimpering as she held her head against my chest, breathing deeply. Slowly I pulled out of her, and let her drop down to her knees in front of me. Her dazed eyes looked up at me like she had just gotten the best gift ever.

Ten minutes later, the very embarrassed Sanchez was on the stripper pole I’d had installed in the lounge area, doing her best to dance on the pole while a plug in her pussy kept her from dripping cum all over the place (the plug in her ass was simply for my amusement). The reason for her embarrassment was because she was dancing while a naked Sheila slowly rode me on the couch where I was sitting, sliding her warm wetness up and down my shaft while I watched Maria. Out of my view, Shearah knelt between my legs, and carefully used her lips and tongue to add to the sensations both Sheila and I felt.

The only thing Maria had on, other than the two pieces of plastic sealing her lower holes, was a leather collar. It was more symbolic than anything, as she couldn’t be made a slave on Nuevo Edo. I motioned for Maria to continue speaking while she danced. The woman moaned slightly as her dancing made the vibrators shift inside her, and began to speak.

(INS Aurum Throni, Earth Orbit, Sol System)

The old Aurum Throni had been destroyed in the Battle For Earth, but it had long been tradition for the leader of the Terran Empire to travel on a vessel of that name whenever they were in space. Of course, they also expected that said leader would spend much of their time on Earth, in the Imperial Palace. Now, however, it was judged an unacceptable risk for the Empress to stay on Earth, since the consequences for a ‘fence’ failing would cause her to be trapped on Earth, unable to communicate or rule. That was, as one might say, an untenable situation for an Empire where the Empress had no heirs as of yet.

So, instead of a new superdreadnought to serve as a floating palace, the new Aurum Throni was in fact a space station capable of moving at FTL speeds, if one gave them sufficient lead time warm the massive engines up. Instead of a superdreadnought, the new Throni was a space station the size of the former Imperial Capitol on the planet below, holding over a million people. It was no mere show piece, however, since it was armed and armored to match a squadron of superdreadnoughts, with a revolutionary multi-layer shield system. The Primary Shields were like a normal ship’s shields, though an order of magnitude stronger than those of a superdreadnought (meaning they could not be run constantly for obvious reasons). The secondary shield, which was always on, was far lower-powered, but had angled deflector screens, to greatly reduce the damage a massive kinetic strike might impart, proving that the Empress and her people had learned a great deal from the civil war.

Empress Merida Vaughn sat back in her throne, wishing that she was back on the bridge of her ship, the Triumphant. She had never wanted to be Empress. There was the heir and the spare, and she had happily joined the military. But she refused to allow Travis to get away with killing her father and siblings, and so she had taken up the mantle of Empress.

Her spies in the Confederacy had been keeping tabs on the enigmatic Nomad that had been crucial in securing her throne, and his ‘Black Star Company’. For the past year or more, she’d had the reports that he was planning an expedition to Unknown Space. Now he had found not one, but two new Gateways, the first to be found since they had found the partial ‘address book’ with the sixteen nearest Gateways.

Moreover, he had found a lost colony! Somehow, the Juan Ponce De Leon had been thrown so far off course that the Drake-class colony ship, which had no FTL drive, had wound up in a completely different arm of the galaxy! That he had introduced them to the Confederacy first before the Empire rankled a bit, but his company WAS based on Dimiya. It is always more prudent to keep your closest neighbors happy.

She was only half paying attention to the useless noble who was begging for clemency after his actions in the civil war. They had actually only arrested a very few of the instigators of the coup, as most had been ‘converted’ into slaves of the AI Deus. This sniveling noble was one of only twenty who could be found that had supported Travis and not been converted.

Lucio bent down from his position by her throne to whisper in her ear. “Your Majesty, I have just received a very interesting invitation from our friend the Commodore. The lost colony of Nuevo Edo is now open for trade, as a free port. They have sent a trade legation to the Confederacy, but he said they would no doubt welcome a legation from the Empire as well.”

Merida frowned slightly, before whispering, “A free port, you say? Why would that man do something like that?”

Lucio chuckled, and said, “He said that if you should ask that, to remember Switzerland of old. A neutral ground for commerce and banking, and a place where high level diplomatic talks or international criminal cases could be held without being influenced by the powerful host countries. It would provide a place where we could ease tensions with the Confederacy and the Ihm Imperium, while perhaps opening up new relationships.”

Merida smiled at Lucio, and said, “Do you feel up to a trip, Lucio? We may need a negotiator at my side when We see to this trade legation.”

Lucio chuckled. “For you, Majesty? Always.”

Merida nodded, smiling as she turned her head to the still prattling noble who was trying to justify his continued existence. “I have heard enough. You are guilty of high treason against the Empire, and shall be executed immediately. Take him away. And call for Trade Minister Bucaro. We desire to see the long lost children of Terra who have been found on Nuevo Edo, and open relations with them.”

Friday, June 8, 2018

Prologue - Trade Chat

(NERV Game Site – Official DAtS Offline Forums)

Number5Alive, Golddigger, BurtBacharach, CrazyCelt, Blaze, DoYouEvenLyft?, MarcoPolo, MightMakesRight, l33tpally, Bennie, SEA-TAC_Sweetie, Requiesce-in-Pace, MacD, HaveGunsWillTravel, Guardian, GunKitty, Chummer, Inquisitor, SemiSolidSnake, ElfMama, Not_the_Face!, Anonymous3, Anonymous4, Anonymous9, AggregatorOfSorrows, WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot, Dolcett, Backlog, DarkAvariel, Knocker, Hullu_Kapteeni, GrimDark, BloodForTheBloodGod, Queen’s_Bitch, BackDat@55Up, DoYouEvenDPS?, MajorTom, Parca, and DarkAngel are in the chat.

ElfMama: Damn, have you seen some of the art exhibits in the new Nuevo Edo embassy on Dimiya? They have a public art gallery showcasing some of their local artists.

Number5Alive: Yeah, there’s some kick ass stuff in there. I really like that painting of the shrine in Satsukicho.

Golddigger: Getting through the line was a pain, though. Anyone who can get to Dimiya is doing so to try and get a look at the new kids on the block.

BurtBacharach: Is it really true that the planet is something like 90% female?

l33tpally: *side-eyes Burt*

BurtBacharach: Asking for a friend.

Guardian: Close. More like 85%. But if you go there, you’ll probably want to stick to the spaceport. Last I heard they were still working on the protective custody laws for men on the planet.

Chummer: Why would men be in protective custody?

Parca: Because when the population is that out of whack, men become a commodity, and some people decided getting a monopoly on men, by force if necessary, was the way to win control of the world.

Chummer: Ah, so the government stepped in to stop that?

Parca: Pretty much. The men also work shifts at the Pleasure Houses, where they’re basically government-sponsored whores.

BurtBacharach: Really…

M.Mollen: Not as glamorous as it sounds, Burt. They don’t get a choice in their ‘customers’. Take your ultimate fantasy woman, and then think of someone the exact and total opposite, and know that you have to keep it up and deliver.
BurtBacharach: Spaceport it is.

Anonymous3: You bastard! I lost my ship because of you!

BurtBacharach: What?

Anonymous3: Not you, that Mollen bastard.

M.Mollen: *chuckles* Oh goody. And just how did I cause you to lose your ship?

Anonymous3: That gate address you came in from doesn’t lead to Nuevo Edo! The system it comes out in only has one world, and the fucking atmosphere ATE MY SHIP!

M.Mollen: Ah, so you were one of the pirates who caused me to win my bet with the Premier. Thanks for that. She and her friend owed me another dinner date after my probes showed all the idiots trying to land on the planet and getting stranded there.

Inquisitor: You mean you bet the leader of an entire world that pirates would try and go to the gate address you came from, and in return they had to buy you dinner? What if you lost?

M.Mollen: I would have bought them dinner.

SEA-TAC_Sweetie: Haha!

Anonymous9: So you set a trap for gullible people to fall into while the Nuevo Edoans made their trade deals?

Anonymous3: HEY!

M.Mollen: Exactly. Currently, the only people who know where Nuevo Edo is are the Black Stars. If trade can be worked out, then it’ll open up to everyone. If not, well, we’ve still got contracts in place to provide services to them, and I’m sure we can get some of their goods to the rest of the galaxy through secondary markets.

Anonymous3: You can’t just hoard prime info like that!

GunKitty: Pretty sure he can, actually. Who is going to stop him?

MarcoPolo: Is it true that the Nuevo Edoans have a list of hundreds of gate addresses?

M.Mollen: Why yes, yes it is. The Amazons might have had one, too, but I don’t know whether it survived the attack.

DoYouEvenLyft?: How did you convince the Empire to give you enough Greenwave to wipe all tech on the planet so quickly?

M.Mollen: I didn’t.

Blaze: Wait, are you telling us…

M.Mollen: That the Black Star Company has weapons of mass destruction, and the capability to build more? Yes. Yes, I am.

Blaze: How the hell did you swing that?

M.Mollen: My people found the weapon, and we kept copies of the info on how to safely produce, store, and deliver it.

Anonymous4: HAX! You gotta be either hacking or a plant for the devs!

M.Mollen: Hah. No, the only thing the devs have done for me would be that event quest. Which the Black Stars got because we were the only ones in a position to do anything about Deus trying to assimilate Earth.

BackDat@55Up: How did you manage to get so far so fast without the devs helping you, then?

M.Mollen: Well, if you people bothered to watch the (edited) streams, you’d see that when I started the game, I was basically a lab rat. But I started planning fast, and found a way to escape. After that, I got lucky with a few things, and managed to keep one step ahead of trouble until I got out of the Empire.

Guardian: Heh. A lot of work after we managed to get out of the Empire.

M.Mollen: True that. Lot of work, and getting my rep up, which got us some jobs. One of those jobs on Jagloth got my team into a vault with a lot of valuables, and so we helped ourselves to some extra fun stuff, which is how we came to find Nuevo Edo. The intel was there for the taking, if anyone had the skills to break in and grab it.

Anonymous3: But what about my ship?

M.Mollen: What about it?

Anonymous3: I put everything into getting that ship, and your damn weapon destroyed it!

M.Mollen: Well, if you go off the edge of the map trying to find treasure, you have to expect that there are dangers. Sucks to be you.

Anonymous3: You fucking bastard! If I get off this rock, I’m going to…

M.Mollen: Do nothing. You’re going to do nothing, because you won’t have a prayer of touching me unless you pay Requiesce-in-Pace to do it.

Requiesce-in-Pace: My rates for that contract will be higher than last time, as there won’t be a war to distract him, just FYI.

HaveGunsWillTravel: Hey, at least there are plenty of horny Amazons down there to enjoy, A3.

Anonymous3: That isn’t enjoyable! They’ve killed me twice with their ‘Snu-snu’!

SEA-TAC_Sweetie: But what a way to go!

MacD: LOL!

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Epilogue - Patch Notes 11.X

(A Virtual Room in NERV HQ)

Isaac was busy. Paperwork, if such a thing truly existed in his virtual office, was a constant headache no matter where you went, it seemed. At the moment, he was going through the bug reports (of which there were surprisingly few) and the player complaints (which seemed never ending). Thankfully, the AI in charge of going through the game’s code was a sharp one, and any bugs usually got hot-patched before they had even escalated to his desk.

The player complaints, however, were often beyond the understanding of an AI that was primarily logical in its makeup. Few of the complaints, after all, had anything to do with logic. Of course, some were legitimate, like the absolute shitstorm of complaints they’d fielded during the Jagloth incident, but the rest were, frankly, crap. Most of it was people whining about how things weren’t ‘fair’ because they fucked up and the game kicked them where it hurt. The Lord_Kickass file was already two gigabytes large, with just text files!

Of course, it seemed like a growing number of those ‘no fair’ complaints all had to do with one company in game. Well, really just one player, and the group he’d gathered around himself. Who could have imagined, when the game started, that one player would have so quickly found himself at the center of most of the game’s major events?

Certainly a little of that was due to the compensation package he’d gotten for being so amazing during the beta, but the only event that had been set up for him on the company’s side hadn’t happened. They’d set it up so he could replace Princess Sheila if he wanted, but that had been scrapped by him planning his own escape, and the assassination of the Emperor. Since then, he’d had a few lucky breaks, but most of it had been his ability to react to the situation. The company hadn’t stepped in to do anything for him until the Event Quest.

Ironically, the Event Quest wasn’t what most people were complaining about. The whole ‘we don’t want another Jagloth’ thing was pretty blatant, and the only group of Nomads who were in a position to do anything about it were the Black Stars. No, that wasn’t the problem, it was the new Gateway Addresses.

Specifically, the fact that he’d hidden the Nuevo Edo address in his streams, and the address that everyone now knew was the Amazon system. Unfortunately for the eight players who had managed to get through the gate, they didn’t realize until it was far too late that they couldn’t land on the planet. Some of them had lost everything because the ships they’d been working to get had melted around them. They were now stranded on the planet with a bunch of (slightly stupid) Amazons who thought of men as nothing but breeding tools. Looking over the logs, there had been no less than twelve ‘Death by Snu-snu’ incidents involving Nomads since they first crashed on the planet. Six of them involved a character named Gemroth, who got an achievement for being the first Nomad to set foot on the planet now being labeled as Amazonia.

Fortunately, these tickets were easy to close out. A simple email saying that yes, the player had the right to edit their stream to conceal location data, no, it was not the game’s fault that they wandered into an area that was unsafe while trying to do nefarious deeds, no, the player was not at fault for them losing their ships, no, they could not simply move the characters to a new planet. Finish it up with an offer to have a paid character change, allowing them to start a new character with additional points to spend in chargen, and send. Basically, he had it down to a form letter by now.

Of course, that was a minority of the Gateway-related complaints. The others mainly had to do with how him hiding the gate address meant they couldn’t cash in by telling various factions the correct new address. Those tickets were closed summarily with only a simple, “Your claim is denied.”

Morgan poked her head into the office, and said, “Oh, there you are. I thought for sure you’d be in the ‘pit’ watching the procession into Dimiya. Some pretty impressive theatrics going on there.”

Isaac sighed, and shook his head. “No, I had to get the latest bug reports and complaint tickets signed off. Fortunately, we’ve managed to keep things down to a dull roar, since the bugs get fixed quick. The idiots complaining because they don’t get free shit are starting to piss me off, though.”

“Yeah, I can see that. They’re a pain in my ass, too. Thought you’d like to know that our boy just shocked the hell out of some NPCs, by basically declaring himself a nuclear state, and then daring the Prime Minister’s aid to do something about it.”

Isaac quickly pulled up the logs, reviewing them. “Hmm. Well, he’s got enough clout with enough groups that he can pull that off. And he is technically within the law, so there is that. Wait, he threatened to run for government?”

Morgan chuckled. “Yeah, but I don’t think he was actually serious. I mean, he isn’t really the kind of player who would have the patience for all that wheeling and dealing instead of just cutting straight to the heart of the problem, even if that meant cutting someone’s head off, literally. Not to mention that he wouldn’t be able to go have fun exploring and would have to endure endless meetings and the like.”

“Yeah, I don’t see him doing that, but damn would it be fun to watch. At any rate, it looks like once the Confederates get a trade deal in place, they’ll open the gate for real, and then the fun begins. After all, there’s about six or seven game days until that enters the Nuevo Edo system…”

End of Book 11.

Monday, June 4, 2018

Chapter 110 - Politics

(Thelorious, Dimiya)

While the diplomatic types were doing the political song and dance for the masses in front of the cameras of the press corps as a long-lost group of settlers were introduced to the people of Known Space, Raven and I joined Alok and a few other spooks and more practical types in a conference room that very pointedly didn’t have any cameras or recording devices, other than Raven herself.

To be clear, this wasn’t a hostile thing, or a threat. It was just that some of these people were supposed to be ghosts, and having records of their appearances would be bad. And others had official titles that required any official meetings they were in had to be recorded, which could be bad if something sensitive came up in the discussion. So, this was a very official unofficial meeting between business associates.

Paxisys started the meeting off. “You already know me, and Lieutenant Zumrora. Allow me to introduce you to Naesala Venra, an aide to the Confederation Prime Minister, Rina Fenris, a representative of the Chamber of Commerce, and Nokhuil Goldtank, an assistant to the Ambassador from the Gauz Consortium.”

I nodded to each in turn, as Paxisys turned to the others, and said, “And this is Commodore Mirikon Mollen, of the Black Star Company, the Nomad we were discussing.”

Nokhuil Goldtank, a stout and sturdy Gauz male if ever there was one, nodded as he looked my way. “Well, you’ve certainly done a good job of throwing the universe on its ear, laddie. I don’t suppose you know just how much you’ve thrown everyone’s expectations off by finding that seventeenth Gateway address?”

I smiled, and said, “Eighteenth, actually.” As I saw the others start in surprise, I continued, “I’m sure by now you have had more than a few people who suggested slipping a ship or two through the Gate to go try and meet the people and negotiate whatever deals they can. Unfortunately, as no fewer than fifteen pirate ships have discovered at last contact, the planet on the other side of the Gateway from where we led the Nuevo Edoan Prime Minister through is not safe to land on, unless one wishes to become a permanent resident.”

Alok’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean by that, Commodore?”

I shrugged. “Exactly as I said. The Nuevo Edoans paid the Black Star Company to remove the threat of a group who had been attacking them for the last century, one using a variant of the Hundeherstellar technology. As Black Star came into possession of weapons capable of dealing with large-scale nanite infestations without enaging in genocide or leaving a life-sustaining world a smoking cinder during the war, we deployed special munitions containing the substance known as Greenwave to destroy the natives’ technological base, including the nanites they used to enhance themselves.”

That little revelation went over about as well as one could expect, since I’d basically done the equivalent of Disney announcing to the world that they were now a nuclear power. Governments don’t really like the idea of anyone having Weapons of Mass Destruction in the hands of anyone but their own military. The idea of a private company having them was enough to make many people uneasy.

Zumrora sighed, and said, “Well, we figured you had retained samples of the Greenwave weapon, and since it is you, we’d already assumed you would produce a strategic supply. Didn’t expect you to actually use it, though.”

I shrugged, and said, “It was the simplest way to go about things without engaging in wholesale genocide, or a lengthy conquest and pacification campaign.”

The aide to the Prime Minister finally got her voice back, and said, “WHAT? You can’t mean that you knew this man had a weapon of such destructive power and didn’t think to inform the Prime Minister?”

Paxisys grunted at the knelfi woman. “And what, exactly, would the Prime Minister have done, except create a political firestorm and maybe start a panic? The Black Star Company has, since Jagloth, operated as a sanctioned security company in Confederate space, and have abided by all rules on use of force for those companies, which only apply when inside Confederate territory. It is legal for a sanctioned security company to own most weapons, though the use of certain weapons is tightly controlled.”

The human lady from the Chamber of Commerce nodded shakily. “Yes, after the Imperial Civil War brought the existence of Greenwave to light, it was added to the list of restricted weapons. It is illegal to buy, sell, or trade those weapons inside Confederate space except for the Confederate Military, and the trading of those weapons to groups outside Confederate space is strictly regulated. However, there is no law against a firm producing such weapons. Since the weapons were used outside the Confederacy, by the group that produced them, they would have a good case before the Chamber if they sought to appeal any sanctions due to this incident.”

Zumrora nodded. “And I will note that all the intelligence agencies keep a close eye on groups with the production capacity and technical knowledge to produce weapons on the proscribed lists, to ensure that they are operating inside the law. We had already been watching the Black Star Company for some time prior to this, due to their Assassin-class ships.”

I cleared my throat. “At any rate, the Gateway that the entirety of Known Space likely now knows is NOT the Gateway to Nuevo Edo. The reason we came through the other gate is obvious, since the pirates have already tried landing on the planet, and added themselves to the population. It will be interesting to see, from a sociological standpoint, what happens to the survivors going forward.”

Leaning back in my chair, I surveyed the room. Paxisys and Zumrora were nonplussed about my admission, but they already knew about my capability from their spying, so they weren’t having a fit. Fenris was still a bit wary, but was already seeing things from a commercial point of view. Goldtank nodded softly to himself, though I think I caught a hint of appreciation in his eyes. Well, I did manage to stir things up, so if he liked a good surprise, that’d do it.

The only problem was Venra. She was still sputtering, torn between shock and outrage. Such a politician. I looked over at her, and said, “Ms. Venra, you may as well stop you political posturing now. I am well within my rights, and have followed the proper laws. You could, of course, try and get the Prime Minister to pass new laws, which my people would challenge. As it stands, I’m fairly popular both here and abroad, thanks to Black Star’s exploits. It would be terrible if I was forced to look away from my businesses to enter the political arena as part of the opposition.”

“B-but you’re not even military! How can you be allowed to have weapons of that nature? It is a clear and present danger to the future of the Confederacy! What is stopping you from launching those weapons on Dimiya?”

“The same thing that is stopping me from taking a shuttle, removing the safeguards on the engine (something any engineer could do), and launching it at the surface of Dimiya at five hundred times the speed of light. It would make the terrorist attack that started the Imperial Civil War look like a camera flash in comparison. You would be extraordinarily lucky if the planet was still in only a couple pieces at that point.”

Watching the blood drain from the woman’s face as she thought of the implications of what would happen in such an attack was fun. But I decided to continue. “So, will you be calling for the abolishment of warp drive, as well? I can tell you, that will make the Prime Minister oh so popular with the private sector and the military. Or can we agree that there are appropriate controls in place to keep disaster from happening?”

Fenris shook her head. “Talk of this nature is absurd. But Paxisys will correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the law requires government inspection of any active storage sites for proscribed weapons, to make sure security is at an acceptable level?” Paxisys nodded. “Then, Commodore, will you consent to inspectors coming to view your Greenwave storage sites?”

I smiled at Fenris, and said, “That would be fairly pointless, as I do not have any Greenwave storage sites, inside or outside of the Confederacy. Having the weapons on hand is far too tempting a target for thieves, and encourages those who hold them to use them in some way. It is much better to remove that temptation entirely, and make it so you have time to think it over before you consign a world to ruin.”

I paused, and turned to look at Venra directly. “The policy of the Black Star Company is that we will have no stockpile or storage of Greenwave or other weapons classified as ‘world-killers’. When, in accordance with the mission needs and applicable laws, the use of Greenwave or other such weapons is deemed necessary, such weapons shall be produced on site, only in such quantities as are necessary to carry out the strike, and any such weapons not expended by the end of the mission shall be promptly destroyed in the appropriate means given for the weapon type, with preference given to launching them into the sun.”

(Amazon System)

The Scout Ship arrived in a burst of energy near the Gateway. Slowly, it turned, and moved towards the planet below. The Sentinels had been watching this and the other world with interest. They were, practically, neighbors. Their two stars were close enough that the light would pass from one to another in 1/2875000 of a Galactic Rotation, a pittance, considering that there were engines in their home space that could cross the gap in a matter of a couple of their months.

Until now, the Sentinels had watched the warring between the two worlds, the constant struggle that had happened since they had first found eachother through the ancient gateways. But something had changed. This system bore proof of the change.

Up until just recently, the system the ship was in had been home to a spacefaring civilization. Primitive in many ways, held back by their ideology, but spacefaring. No more. Now the wreckage of their space fleets littered the system, and the world below had been effectively cleansed of industry. The Sentinel had watched it happen.

That was why the Scout Ship was here. Their shields protected them from the tiny machines that had spread throughout the air, sea, and land of the world, seeking out and destroying technology more advanced than a certain level. A sample was taken, and contained, for study. The Ship noted that the people of this world had been spared from outright genocide, but they were a spacefaring civilization suddenly thrown back to the Stone Age, as few examples of technology remained. Those that could, adapted. Those that could not, died. But those that lived grew stronger.

The Scout ship left the atmosphere of the stricken world. It would need to find answers elsewhere. The strange ships that had assaulted this civilization and shown such cruel mercy (or perhaps merciful cruelty?) were not here. They would look elsewhere for a worthy hunt. Perhaps the other world would have prey strong enough to call the hunt? It had was the mere remnant of a spacefaring civilization that had been abandoned there by one of the Great Makers, but perhaps these new ships would prove a challenge?

Returning to a position near the Gateway, the Scout Ship slowed to a stop. Some of the new ships were still in the other system, according to the Sentinel. It would not do to scare the prey before the hunt began. Slowly, the Scout ship gathered energy. It would emerge from the travel several days’ stalk from the target system, so that those watching the skies would not detect the energy of their coming. A scout should be neither seen nor heard, unless there is great need. More so when looking for prey suitable to hunt.

Sunday, June 3, 2018

Chapter 109 - End of an Era

(Penthouse Suite, Riverside Gem Hotel, Yokosaki, Nuevo Edo)

Fukuya Talia groaned slightly as she felt the first signs of a hangover. The forty-five year old premier did her best to keep her mind off the pain, as she silently promised never to drink again, even knowing that was probably a lie. Opening her eyes, she blinked, seeing an unfamiliar ceiling. And then she felt movement next to her.

“Ah, up already, I see?”

Talia suddenly became very aware of the fact that she wasn’t alone in bed, and the fact that she was very naked under the sheets. With a bit of trepidation, she turned, and saw the young owner of the Black Star Company smiling at her, while Hikari lay on top of him, the two also naked. And her childhood friend looked to be still asleep, so had they…

And then she remembered. The official announcement when the Black Star Navy had returned to Nuevo Edo, that the ‘Demons’ were no longer a threat. The party they’d had in the capitol. The many, many drinks. And then he brought them to the hotel.

She squeaked slightly as the arm under her curled up, rolling her body that was pleasantly loose (unlike her aching head) up so that she was lying atop of him as well, her face barely a centimeter from Hikari’s. She blushed furiously as the movement caused her friend to awaken, and the blush intensified as she felt the man’s hand moving down to her rear.

When they had left earth, the Japanese and Hispanic cultures both had religious and social taboos against… pairings between those of the same sex, and about groups doing souch things. While some of those taboos had been challenged during the long flight from Earth, and had been all but destroyed with the steadily declining male population during the Demon Wars, Talia had never once thought of her friend Hikari like that, and now, here they were, sharing a bed with the man who had changed everything for their world, and, as the memories came back to her, she blushed as she remembered how Hikari had tasted when Mollen-san… no, Mirikon guided her head between Hikari’s legs, getting her to clean up her friend’s freshly filled womb with her tongue, as he entered her in turn.

What kind of technology did they have in Known Space, that they could produce such a man? She had been to the Pleasure Halls, as had most women, but she had never known one of the men there to be as large as Mirikon was, or have his staying power. How had he managed to recover so quickly, again and again?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Hikari opening her eyes. The general who was the same age as Talia looked like a young maiden the way she blushed, but then she leaned forward and kissed Talia on the lips. The premier did not refuse her friend, and then she moaned as she felt the man underneath her press a finger into her rear entrance. From the way Hikari shuddered in pleasure, he was no doubt doing the same for her.

“Good girls. Perhaps we should continue with where we left off last night, hmm? Would you both enjoy another creamy filling before we get up and go about our day?”

Talia’s answer was to push her friend off the man’s chest as she got fully on top of him. “In the interests of diplomacy, of course.”

The man smiled as he adjusted, and then slid his length into Talia. “Of course.”

(Nania Gateway, Nania System)

Much as the Alpha Centauri system was important primarily because of it being the closest Gateway to Earth, the Nania System’s primary claim to fame was being the closest Gateway to Dimiya. Well, it also was the site of the Knelfi’s first colony back when they had just started exploring the stars. That meant the Nania Gateway was one of the busier ones in Confederation space.

So when the Gateway had an unscheduled arrival, that turned a few heads. When the computers announced that the address it was coming from was unknown, that REALLY got people’s attention. When the black forms of Shinokage and First Group of the Black Star Navy slid out of the Gateway, well, all eyes were on the infamous stealth ships that had been gone from Known Space for eight months. Moreover, they had three new ships with them.

The new ships were clearly Black Star designs: two Raven-class freighters and one Assassin. But unlike ships used by Black Star themselves, these were painted a brilliant white, and the Assassin had a strange flag painted near the bow, a field with Yellow, Blue, and Red stripes, with red being at the bottom. In the middle of the field was a red circle. Under the flag was written NEN Santiago.

When challenged by Confederate Navy ships guarding the Gateway, a reply was sent in the clear to all ships in the system from the Shinokage: “The Black Star Navy has been commissioned to escort a diplomatic mission to Dimiya, and will be proceeding there forthwith. Attempts to violate the diplomatic immunity of the vessels will be responded to in kind.”

Faster than light itself, it took mere hours for all of Known Space to understand that the Black Star Company had indeed found a new Gate Address, and there were people living there.

(Amazon Gateway, Amazon System)

It had been half a day since the delegation had gone through the Gateway, heading for Dimiya and the center of the Confederation. Unfortunately, the realities of travelling between the stars meant that news of their existence spread fast, before they could actually get to Dimiya to begin official dialogue. Also, the nature of the Gates meant that everyone who was able to get a clean reading of the address knew where they were now, and they’d spread that news far and wide.

The Gateway opened again, and six pirate ships flew through, weapons and shields up. The Civil War had been good for the Dead Rover clan, and they’d feasted on all the poor little merchants who flew around like lost sheep when they logistics of the Empire were torn apart by the Black Star Navy. Now those ships had apparently found a virgin hunting ground, and the Dead Rovers were going to stake their claim.

Captain Cailean Caoidheach was in charge of Dead Rovers, mainly because he’d killed the last leader, as well as the two that’d challenged him over the last couple years. His Black Flag was an armed freighter, extensively modified over the years. She was tougher than any modern merchantman, and could pack one hell of a punch, but she couldn’t hold a candle to any real military ship that weighed the same as her in a fair fight. Good thing Cailean cheated.

He looked over to his second, who was reading the sensors. “Well, what do we have, Fionn?”

The tall, wiry man who was looking over to the barrel-chested captain, and chuckled. “The fools didn’t even leave a guard behind to keep disreputable types from talking with their new ‘friends’ while they were away. We were lucky to hear about this before any of the major clans got the gate address.”

Cailean nodded as he considered the crazy-eyed Nomad they’d ‘rescued’ off Earth a month ago. He’d bought his freedom and a provisional place on the crew with the knowledge that he was a Nomad, and could get into their information networks. “Aye, that we were. Be makin’ sure that Gemroth feller is promoted to full crew, and let the men know it is because he came through with good intel. Might get some of them to think with their heads instead of their sacks if they see good things happening to a new hire who did good for the Clan.”

Shaking his head, he looked back at Fionn, and said, “So, what do we have in the system? How many targets?”

“There was definitely a battle here, Captain. Debris all over the place. I see one habitable world, but it looks like any cities have been bombed to the stone age. There must have been one hell of a fight, which might explain why the other Black Star ships aren’t here.”

Cailean nodded. This score was sounding bigger and bigger by the minute! “Playing like they’re bigger than they are, to keep people from knowing how badly they got mauled when it was a straight fight instead of sneak attacks. Guess it just sucks for them that we were ready to sneak through a gate once we knew where to head. OK, find where the most people are, and we’ll see what is worth ‘trading’ for.”

“Coordinates locked in, Captain.”

“Take the ships down, have the boys ready for raiding! There’s virgin raid territory down there, just waiting to be plucked clean like a preacher’s daughter! Last man ashore gets the last pick of loot!” That brought cheers from all the men as the Black Flag and her companions angled down to enter the atmosphere of the planet and see what trouble that they could get in to.

Suddenly, when they were just under thirty kilometers above the largest population center, alarms began blaring all throughout the Black Flag. To say that Cailean Caoidheach was pissed about the alarms in his moment of glory would be to severely understate things. “What the hell is that blasted racket?”

The helmsman called back, “Response from the starboard engine’s getting bad, Captain. Don’t know what is wrong with it, but we’re losing power, fast. Starboard is at 50% and falling, Port is at… 87, no 85% and falling.”

“Fuck! Get us on the ground then, and remind me to smack the hell out of that damned engineer for lying about the ship being good to fly. I’ll kill him after he fixes it.” More alarms went off.

“We have a hull breach on the Cargo Bay doors. Shutting off environmental control.”

Screams came over the com lines, apparently ones of pain. “Goddamn it, turn that shit off! Who the bloody hell was screaming into my channel?”

“It came from the cargo bay, Captain. It sounded like Gallach. Don’t know what the big lummox was up to, but he’s looking pretty bad, if you go checking the field nearest cameras to the training room… Fuck the cameras are gone now, too!”

“Get us on the ground NOW helmsman!” Captain Caoidheach gripped the seat of his chair as he saw, with some satisfaction, that the crew was well motivated, and were taking what time they could get to put the ship down, crashing into the Jungle rather than waiting for the ship to fall on a civvie population.

It would suck to kill off the potential slaves before they could get the ship fixed and back to civilization.

And that is when he saw the bulkhead literally melt in front of him, as nanites began hunting and destroying all post-industrial works, which included pretty much the entire ship except the hull.

“Oh feck me!”

(Thelorious Starport, Dimiya)

As the center of the Confederacy, Dimiya was used to having VIPs show up. The shuttle from Santiago was joined by one from Santiago and by a four-bird flight of Crimson Blade squadron’s Thunderbolts flying escort as they landed in perfect precision on the pad that had been prepared for them.

Meeting them on the platform was a full honor guard for a visiting dignitary, with several diplomats who were eager to be the first ‘official’ group to talk to these mysterious Nuevo Edoans. The Knelfi Governor of Dimiya stood there with a member of the Assembly’s foreign relations committee and other such important people.

Mirikon’s people spread out as he joined the procession, with his people clearly augmenting the security detail for Premier Fukuya and General Akagi., some of them disappearing into the crowd so they could form an outer circle of protection around the VIPs. Anyone who was watching would see that the Black Stars were carrying out their task.

No one on the street noticed when a knelfi man managed to insert himself into the group near Mirikon. His guards noticed it all right, but allowed the meeting in plain sight to happen because Mirikon simply nodded to let them know he was to be allowed to come talk.

With a mock sigh, Alok Paxisys said, “You really do like stirring things up, don’t you, Commodore?”