Chapter 7: Interference

Personal log of Maximilian Macharius, Captain of the Mars Battlecruiser Resilient.

During the last month I met my command crew. The weapons officer came last. But I think Mister Lomion will do his job great. But the commissar was THE surprise. I never met a guy as big as him. He is build like an Orc but much taller. Almost like an Ogryn. Also I met an old academy friend who will serve on my ship to learn the job of Flight Commander by doing. And I took every free minute I had to train my marksmanship with the Nova cannon. Now the ship is completed and ready. Today we will make the first real test run. Our mission is to patrol a few systems and look out for anything unusual.

"Hey Maxim." Anastasius Carter said while catching up with Maxim.

"Hey Anastasius. It seems that the Resilient will finally get some action."

Both men strode towards the docking bay where their shuttle to the Resilient was waiting. Anastasius was talking the whole time. Maxim didn't really listen to him for his mind was filled with concerns. Will the crew work with him? Will the mission go well?

As both men seated themselves inside the shuttle, Maxim stopped Anastasius flow of words.

"Listen Anastasius, we're friends alright, but remember to address me as Captain while we're on the bridge. It's only Maxim when in private, okay?"

"Understood, Captain." Anastasius replied smiling.

The flight was smooth, despite the fact that Anastasius didn't even seem to stop breathing while he talked. Maxim occasionally replied but soon gave up listening. After the shuttle landed in the docking bay of the Resilient, Maxim saw many Lightning fighters and Marauder bombers arrayed in several rows. It seemed that Flight Commander Urag did his job well. Pilots and crew who spotted Maxim saluted formally. Maxim returned them, smiling inwardly. At least the pilots didn't reject him on first sight.

After they reached the bridge, Maxim ordered every command crew member into his auditorium. There he addressed all of them.

"Gentleman, status report please. You first, Magos."

Magos Harûn began hissing and his servitor stepped forward speaking.

"The reactors are rubbed with blessed ointment and devoted to the almighty Omnissiah. The signs are perfect, not one machine showed any kind of displeasure from the Machine God."

Maxim interpreted the words of the Magos that everything worked fine. Truthfully, he never really believed in the existence of a Machine God or Omnissiah and he supported the idea that a good kick was more successful to restart a machine than a dozen prayers.

"That's good Magos. Mister Urag?"

"The requisition was successful. We got the Phantine XXXV fighter corps and the 35th Arkalaxian bomber squad." Urag explained. "The Phantine are an elite fighter corps with a famous history. They fought in the Gothic War and during the 13th Crusade. The Arkalaxians are fairly new, build around a few veteran pilots and a lot of new ones. But their training results were pretty good that's why I decided to take them."

"Thank you, Mr. Urag" Maxim said. Then he turned to his weapon officer. "Mr. Lomion, the status of the weapons?"

Lomion cleared his throat. "The weapons are all functional. Most of them even were it when the ship came out of the hulk. The Nova cannon is brand new from Mars and the test shots were all successful. It's even an improved version to the regular cannon and we estimate that it's able to eliminate a heavy cruiser with one well placed shot."

"Thank you, Mr. Lomion. That leaves security matters aboard the ship. Commissar Khelben?"

The commissars voice was booming like a thunderstorm in the auditorium. Maxim could imagine this voice over a firefight or brawl. A man would be foolish to fight on after hearing that.

"The slave gangs are in their bunks close to the weapon batteries. The security forces on this ship are mediocre but with your permission I will initiate a training program for them. Then, apart from a full scale boarding by Space Marines or Demons, they should be able to repel anything happening here."

When Khelben said the word 'Demons' everyone in the room reflexively made the sign of the aquila. Maxim thought it through. A training program was surely a good thing and it gave the security crew something to do in their spare time which should help eliminate the possibilities for them to become drug addicts.

"Mr. Khelben, you have my permission for this training program. But before you start it I want you to bring it to paper so I can have a look at it."

"Understood Captain."

"Okay, any questions?" Maxim asked. Nobody had one. "Okay, then it's time to fill you in on our first mission. We are tasked with a little pirate hunting. During the last 4 months, a pirate group became too active for the local sub-sector command. Eye witnesses have confirmed that the pirates have at least one or two cruiser sized ships, several escorts and a few fighters."

Maxim let the other men swallow the information. Then he continued.

"Our mission is to find their base and rout them all. Clear and simple. For this, we have our ship, the Resilient as flagship. We will be accompanied by two Lunar cruisers, the Novatis and Starhawk, a Gothic class cruiser, the Orca and 4 escort wings, 8 Cobra destroyers and 6 Firestorm frigates.

We will search through several systems for their base or a few of their ships. If we stumble upon their base, we destroy it and wait for their fleet. If we find some of their ships, which will be more likely, we are to chase them off. Our navigator assured me that he's able to trace them back to their hideout. If he's successful, we will follow them there and rout them out. Any questions?"

There were none.

"Okay, the next is absolutely contrary to our orders. In case we get the opportunity, I want to take over one of their cruisers. If it's a cruiser of course. If not, we blast it to pieces. I want to do this because I figure it'll do the fleet more good if we can bolster it with another cruiser especially considering the losses during the crusade. Commissar, if I gave those orders, would you comply or shoot me?"

That brought a sharp intake of breath from the other men, except Harûn. Khelben looked Maxim directly in the eyes. To Maxim it felt like a Catachan devil looking at his lunch. After 3 seconds that felt like a lifetime, Khelben answered.

"Captain, you are asking us to break our orders. Normally I couldn't allow that. But since you're doing it for the good of the fleet and therefore the empire, I will comply. I will start preparing the troops right after this meeting to be ready if that event should occur."

"Thank you, Mr. Khelben" Maxim said relieved. "Dismissed."

As everyone filed back to bridge, Maxim sat down on the Captain's chair.

"Helm, bring us out. A quarter speed until we're out of the base perimeter. Then full speed to the warp entry point."

Maxim activated his intercom. "Navigator Khoval, we're about to jump into warp. Please prepare yourself."

"Understood Captain" came the reply.

With all orders given, Maxim sat silently in his chair, contemplating about the mission and his future.

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The orks were on their way. Aemos had directed his will through their weirdboyz, creating an awesome Waaagh! that would eventually lead to the prison planet of Harkanos. But Aemos was still uneasy. He sensed that the Orks wouldn't be on time. Their hulk was too immense to be steered. And the warp currents flew them off course sometimes. He had to do something to slow down the khornate fleet.

With a blink of a thought, he summoned one of his sub demons to him. A demon that was eager to prove himself. Aemos knew that Kalathael wanted his own realm, and the same or even more power than Aemos. Although it would give him more power, Aemos knew it was the only thing he could do. He let Kalathael become a warp storm to cordon off the part of the warp where Victor Harras' currently was flying through.

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Victor Harras sat in his command chair, brooding. The warp currents were strange. It looked like walls coming up in front of his armada, trying to keep him away from something. 'Something is trying to stop me' Victor thought. He cursed himself for not bringing a sorcerer with him. He hated them with a passion but sometimes they were useful.

His army was getting agitated. They yearned for bloodshed and being kept in their hundreds of thousands in a cramped transport wasn't helping. If they couldn't find a battle soon, it could evolve to a war between them just for the sake of spilling blood.

Suddenly the demon bound to the sensors started speaking. "Lord Harras! The warp currents are culminating in a storm. We are trapped!"

Victor stared outside in a mixture of awe and rage. He had seen a couple of warp storms already but this one was different. Normally it would block a certain way through the warp but this time the armada was completely surrounded. There was no way out. Any ship that tried would be torn apart by the strong forces.

Victor Harras howled in rage. Now he was sure that some dark, sinister mind was trying to keep him away from his price. He'd show them.

"Have ten thousand slaves assembled on this ship. We will make a sacrifice to Khorne for guidance. If he really wants to see his Demon champion free, he will help us out of here."

To be continued.

End of Chapter 7

Bonus profile #2

Name: Corvin Urag

Age: 68

Height: Height: 6'3''

Weight: 240 lbs

Present rank: Flight Commander

Present status: Flight Commander of the newly commissioned Mars Battlecruiser Resilient.

Corvin Urag was born on Necromunda as the son of a wealthy merchant family. His parents bought him into the naval academy. He impressed his tutors by choosing the perfect fighter corps for several ships in several training exercises. After his graduation he served on the Dictator Class cruiser Creolé and learned all he knows now from his tutor, Flight Commander Creche.

Creche taught him not to choose a fighter wing by the paper but listen to his instincts when doing it. This kind of gut instinct earned him the respect of a lot of fleet commanders for his choices always were responsible for either victory or were the only reason for avoiding utter destruction in retreat maneuvers.

Now, at 68 years old and only a few years before retiring he set out to instruct a new academy offspring on his own, a young man named Anastasius Carter.