Ignis in Vacui Chapter 4
Across the backdrop of glittering stars ships moved, swarms of craft of all shapes and sizes. There were wallowing cargo barges and sleek patrol frigates, bulky mining vessels and hulking mineral processors, all jostling for space. Some of these craft would have been recognisable to any void farer of the Imperium but far more would not. Some boasted inhuman swooping lines and curves, some were jagged blade-craft and others seemed contorted into impossible shapes. There were craft that resembled vast spheres and others that trailed long streamers behind like jellyfish. This was the Diasporex in its full glory, busily working to strip the asteroids of their bounty.
Captain Horroway could see it all from the observation deck, situated fore of the bridge itself. From here she could see the length of the Bonaventure and her gaze lingered over its beauty. The cruiser was long and lean, with smooth lines that were uncluttered by the gargoyles and useless architecture most human ships bore in this ignorant age. In fact the Bonaventure predated most scows of the forty-first millennium by many thousands of years. She had been laid down in the Jovian Shipyards during the Great Exodus when Mankind first bestrode the stars.
Horroway drank in the sight of her vessel, admiring her power and speed. Horroway loved her vessel, right down to the last rivet, and it was her pride and joy to be Captain. In her reckoning the Bonaventure was the finest ship in the fleet, swift and responsive and so very eager. Her systems were festooned with Xenos upgrades, components coming from places as far away as the Halo stars and the Tau Empire. Horroway had sailed the length of the galaxy twice over, trading and exploring for the Diasporex and fighting too, there always seemed to be fighting. No matter where Horroway sailed war was waiting for her, ignorant Imperial ships, haughty Eldar pirates, Chaos monstrosities and of course Orks. The greenskin menace, the oldest and most bitter foe of the Diasporex, an enemy that never relented. Horroway tried not to hate anything, she wanted only to explore the galaxy in peace but the Orks made that impossible. There was not a corner of the galaxy they did not infest and the Captain had the scars to prove it.
Lost in thought Horroway's eyes lifted and she beheld the swarms of Diasporex ships, a product of the long-lost age of glory. Mankind had once sought to explore the stars, seeking friendship and peaceful cooperation but encounters with the Orks had resulted in devastating wars. Yet Humanity in that age had been able to tell the difference between aggressive and peaceful races and so the colony fleets had forged an alliance of many species, all seeking to survive in the face of the Greenskin menace. Eventually a great diversity of races came together around the original Terran colony fleets and they called themselves the Diasporex.
Horroway's thoughts were interrupted as a harsh snarl rang out, followed a second later by the synthetic words, "It's busy out there." The Captain glanced to the side to see her tactical officer, starlight glinting off his snout. Krang was a Tarellian, one of the infamous Dog-Soldiers. His mercenary clan had been in the employ of the Diasporex for so long they had practically become permanent members, though they argued differently. Krang was proud of his heritage but his dedication to this ship had seen him rise far.
Horroway drew in a breath and remarked, "This asteroid field is abundant with raw materials, we need this haul."
There was a flare of light behind her and then Numeta's voice rang out, "This system is most peculiar, a vagrant star passing perpendicular to the galactic plane. No planets to speak of, but they are so many mineral-rich asteroids that the wealth here exceeds calculation. The Diasporex could build a fleet of ships with these materials."
Horroway glanced at her Binaric crewman, taking in the glowing avatar. Humanity's history with A.I. had been catastrophic, and the Diasporex had been no exception, a terrible calamity that had ended with the extermination of the machine minds. Numeta's kind though had no connection with human history; they claimed to be self-evolved Binaric consciousness's. A sovereign digital-race, rather than man-made things. Nobody was quite sure how that was supposed to work but the Binaric beings had served flawlessly and without incident among the Diasporex for centuries and now were so familiar that few even thought about it.
Horroway nodded but commented, "We had best not linger too long, the Imperium won't like us trespassing in their system."
"Filthy Imperials," Krang snarled, "Always taking what isn't theirs."
Horroway understood his anger, the Tarellian homeworld had been wiped out by the hated Space Marines and they still bore bitter grudges. Thankfully they didn't hold the Diasporex responsible; the independent fleets had suffered grievous losses of their own to the Xenophobic Imperium and had done their best to avoid the superstitious zealotry of Terra's rule. Horroway replied sadly, "We won't overstay our welcome, we will get what we need and then we will leave this system. With the state of the galaxy right now they may never even know we were here."
That statement held more truth than any dared admit. The galaxy was split in twain by a calamity beyond measure, an outpouring of madness and horror on an unprecedented scale. Chaos had come and not only for the Imperium. The Diasporex had suffered the assaults of Chaos, only ancient secrets taught to them by the Eldar letting them avoid extinction, but many blamed the Imperium for unleashing total madness. Their gamble of mining a system so close to the Naval base at Tectum was born of desperation more than anything else.
Horroway had no love for the Imperium, she had sparred with Navy warships too many times to feel otherwise, but she bore no special hatred for them either. They were pitiable things, so blind and narrow-minded and quick to condemn their own. Horroway drew in a breath and said, "Don't waste your energy on them. The Imperium is finally collapsing, its days are numbered. Hating them is redundant; they need no help from us to die."
Yet Krang snarled, "I'd love to grind them under my claws, to make them weep as we break the skulls of their young, as they did ours. To see them grovel before our conquering armies."
Now he did go too far and Horroway snapped, "Don't talk like that, the Diasporex has no use for conquest and occupation. We sail the stars, free and unencumbered, leave the dirt grubbing for others."
Krang bared his throat in submission before the rebuke and Horroway consoled him, "I know its hard but look at the stars, they are ours. We have everything we need, the Imperium is nothing to us."
Numeta interjected, "It's an impractical suggestion anyway. The odds of the Diasporex winning a ground war with the Imperium are 0.0001%"
Everybody returned their gaze to the stars, where the Orreti Arsenal ship was sliding by, patrolling for lurking Orks. Then there was a snort of derision and the voice of Robar came forth, "Damn cowardly Lizards nearly cost us the battle."
Horroway sighed to herself, Mr Robar was a gifted engineer and skilled technologist, but he had a troubled past. She had picked him up at a rogue trade station, recognising his talents for machine craft. Robar had accepted all too readily, for he had been on the run from the Mechanicus. Horroway didn't know the full details, she knew he had been a lowly enginseer in the fleets of Mars and that the Tech-Priests wanted his head for some crime, but he wouldn't say what he had done to earn their ire. Robar claimed to have fled before they had caught him and spent years on the run, bartering his skills for passage on tramp ships and scows. Horroway was proud of how he had built a life for himself among the Diasporex but he had brought his Imperial prejudices with him and he didn't like non-humans much, present company excepted.
Horroway turned to Robar and said, "Chief, as much as I appreciate your skills, talk like that is not welcome. The Orreti might be new to the Diasporex but they have integrated well."
"Doesn't mean I trust them," Robar spat, "They're almost as bad as the walruses."
Now Krang turned to him and snarled, "Do not insult the Borlac, I would take one of them over a hundred Imperials. Those maniacs with their accursed Space Marines and tyrant Emperor."
Robar's face coloured at that, even after all these years he still couldn't shake off his religious awe of the Terran Emperor and he raised his fists saying, "Don't you speak that way of the Omnissiah!"
Horroway could see an argument breaking out and she snapped, "Stop it the pair of you! This is unbecoming, you all swore to respect our spirit of partnership. We are many species working for mutual benefit, not some anarchic scrum."
"But…" Robar spluttered.
Horroway hissed, "If you two can't be civil then keep out of each other's way. Get back to work… now!"
The pair of them lowered their heads in shame and then departed, leaving Horroway alone with the projection of Numeta. The Captain sighed, "I hate having to do that."
Numeta looked puzzled and said, "I don't understand organic prejudices at all."
"Its history," Horroway explained sadly, "Organics don't change as easily as you, our programming is ingrained deeply. Old hatreds fester, especially between species."
Numeta pursed her lips in curiosity to question, "What is a walrus anyway?"
"No idea," Horroway said, "But apparently Borlac resemble them."
Numeta assimilated this and then said, "The Orreti are reptilians and the Scythians… I actually don't know what they look like under those robes."
"Nobody does," Horroway affirmed, "They keep to themselves, but they fight well and follow orders, which is a rarity in the Diasporex."
Numeta affected the appearance of breathing in and then changed the subject saying, "If you're interested, the Mayflower is crossing the prow."
Horroway started and peered into the void, seeing a vast leviathan heaving into view. It crested the bow of the Bonaventure like a rising moon, all vast curvature and massive flanks. It was simply enormous, dwarfing every other vessel in the fleet and making even the massive Jupiter-class Battleships of the Diasporex look like minnows.
The Mayflower was an Earthseed class colony ship. Part vessel, part living biosphere and part shipyard, she was truly ancient and filled with technologies long-forgotten by the rest of humanity. Built into the rock of one of the Terran system's original asteroids, she was history itself brought to life. She had sailed the stars for twenty-five millennia, seeing empires fall and rise and fall again on her eternal voyage. Horroway had been born on that vessel and held it to be as close to home as she could get. She had once laid eyes upon an Eldar Craftworld and in concept the Mayflower mirrored that design, though being far less beautiful and much smaller. But unlike those arcane voidcraft the Mayflower was Warp-Capable, able to sail the stars unimpeded by relativity.
The Mayflower was one of only a handful of such vessels left in existence and they never travelled together. The Diasporex had learned bitter lessons against concentrating their people together and had divided into nomadic groups, never gathering enough numbers to draw attention and provoke enemies. Horroway never failed to be stirred by the sight of the Mayflower and her eyes caressed the ancient craft, taking in its bulk and might with awe.
Her reverie was interrupted by a soft cough and she turned to see D'ras waiting to speak. D'ras was a Tau, one of the Air Caste, born to sail the void. He had been part of the ill-fated fifth sphere expansion, which had been lost in the Warp. D'ras had seen firsthand the Daemons that has assailed the unprepared Tau fleet, witnessing horrors his Ethereal overlords claimed couldn't exist. Horroway had dragged hundreds of Tau out of the wreckage of their craft when it was spat back into realspace. With no way home and no purpose the Tau had joined the Diasporex wholeheartedly, but every one of them was scarred by the experience and their eyes hid a terrible fear.
Horroway addressed him saying, "Is there something the matter?"
D'ras bowed stiffly and stated, "High Senator Acham is on the Hyperlight comm, he wants to speak to you."
Horroway started and said, "Damn, I can't keep him waiting. I'll take it in my ready room, you're in command until I get back."