Chapter Thirty-five

Kat liked the little workshop. It was on deck four, an old armoury which had been empty for centuries. They'd installed several dozen machine-tools and technical servitors here and she liked the quiet focused activity. Even after nearly a year on board, she still wasn't used to the echoing corridors and the stark silence of the great vessel. It was comforting to have somewhere busy to go when she was not actually on duty. She was working on her bolter today, routine maintenance.

It felt strange to have such a weapon, or rather, felt strange for it to be hers. As if she had fallen into some heroic epic with legends and great deeds. She was just a farmer's daughter from Meyis, nobody special. It didn't make sense.

And yet it did. Most of the time. It felt right. The ship. The crew. Sedreth. He had called her bolter drill 'adequate' yesterday. She smiled at the memory. 'Adequate' from Sedreth was 'beyond excellent' from anyone else she had trained with, and both of them knew it. Of course, both Sara and Janey were better. A lot better if she was honest. But not, now, a lot fitter. As Sedreth had put it 'there are limits to how fit a normal human can make themselves without becoming fragile'. Both Sara and, to a lesser extent since she was still growing, Janey were close to that point now. She and Astrid had a fair way to make up, although she was definitely catching up.

Astrid wasn't really getting much fitter, though. Sedreth said that their Navigator would never be able to reach the same levels of physical strength and endurance that the other three women could; not down to any fault with effort, just genetics. On the other hand, none of them could come close to her incredible mental endurance, which bordered on Sedreth's transhuman abilities. And Astrid didn't have any genetic implants to make her that way; just hundreds of generations of breeding. She had told them that endurance was a trait her House was known for. It was one of the few times she had mentioned Navigator Houses, Janey's boundless curiosity notwithstanding. Still, Kat had to admit that she liked the Navigator. Even if the woman admitted to hating the regular combat drills.

She grinned inwardly and turned back to her weapon, carefully oiling and reassembling it. She had, with Sedreth's encouragement, carefully incised her name into the bolter, the last in a short list etched on the ancient weapon. The others, all four of them, were inlaid in gold as well as cut into the metal; one day her name would also read gold.

When she Fell and went to join the Emperor.

It was funny how acceptable that was; she had no qualms about death. Not any more. She had faced traitor marines and tyranids before this, and since joining Phoenix's small complement had twice fought orks, and, once, another semi-sentient xenos species none of them knew the name of.

That action had been on a frontier world, recently colonised near the Eastern Fringes. The Imperium still had the world unnamed, the Administratum's Informational Database devoid of information. The colonists had called it 'Hope'. The native wildlife, some sort of reptile, had almost overrun the nascent settlement and all they had been able to do, despite their best efforts, had been to bring the survivors aboard and transport them to the next Imperial world.

Fortunately for the ragtag group, that world had turned out to be the agri-world Geosan IV which was only too happy to accept additions to its population who were prepared to carve out their own fortunes from its extensive forests. The colonists had been effusive in their thanks and the Imperial Governor more practical in offering a convenient discount for Phoenix's resupply. She'd liked that. It felt good, saving people.

A soft chime interrupted her thoughts. Exercises in ten minutes. She wasn't armoured today, like every third day. Sedreth, hard taskmaster that he was, made it clear that all of them needed to be confident in their own abilities rather than using the powered battle-plate as a crutch to make up for weaknesses. She understood, even agreed in principle, but, Throne of Gold, it was hard. Especially when Janey seemed almost casual but still beat her easily.

She picked up her bolter and jogged off to change. Maybe today she might take the youngster down a peg or two.

Astrid chuckled wryly to herself as she stood under the heavy jets, the water driving heat into her tired muscles. Thank the Emperor Sedreth had agreed that she needed only the basics; she was sure she couldn't have coped with the sort of training he put Kat, Sara and Janey through. The training duel Kat and Janey had had the other day was well beyond her.

They were in the practice rooms now, at the firing range. Kat was being trained with the heavy bolter, for the third time this week. She wasn't sure why Sedreth had decided to have them all trained in multiple weapons; it was probably because he could use any and all weaponry equally well. Terrifyingly well if you got down to it. She had never actually seen the marine in real combat, but Kat had told her it was both inspiring and horrifying at the same time – inspiring, because you couldn't help but feel braver with an astartes at your side, and horrifying, because it was a reminder of why such warriors were needed in the first place.

She stepped out of the spray and into the dryer, luxuriating in the cessation of pressure against her flesh. She'd asked Sara about the shower system; it was unusual in her experience. Every other vessel she'd been on had more conventional overhead sprays and dryers were reserved for senior officers and VIPs. Sara had laughed and told her that they used the same facilities the ship's original astartes complement had used. Space marines' superhuman physiques produced a slightly different type of sweat to normal humans, that clung to the skin more, so they needed higher water pressures.

Sedreth had added that the adapted sweat could be deliberately stimulated by a trained astartes, coating the entire body to provide additional protection in hostile environments. It even gave some help against the freezing cold of space, so a space marine could survive his armour being cracked or holed for a short time, hopefully one sufficient to get a patch on it.

Janey had remarked that the Emperor had thought of everything. Sedreth had looked solemn and added 'everything except treachery'.

The memory brought her good humour back to earth. She had watched the ancient recording with Kat, and, like Kat, had wept. It had given her – given them both – a very different perspective. She'd found herself in the Hall a few times, walking between the remembrance columns, tracing names with her hand and wondering.

She shook herself and went through to dress, noting idly that she seemed to have gained a fair amount of firmness in the last few months. She had to admit that the regular exercise felt good. It had enhanced her concentration too. Sedreth's 'healthy body' saying might have a point or two.

She slipped on her bandana. The others didn't seem to be worried, but it was not polite to leave her Navigator Eye uncovered, especially around normal mortals, if only because a reaction to something like a sneeze could cause her to blink it and that would at best injure anyone unfortunate enough to be facing her at the time. And she was definitely stronger psychically than she'd been, frequent interaction with Phoenix's powerful machine spirit helping her to train her abilities. Probably not strong enough to challenge someone like Edsel, but no longer easily discountable either.

She buckled her recently acquired blade to her forearm. Sedreth considered her to have enough competence – basics, he'd said – that she could wear the fractal-edged weapon. Under her formal Navigator House robe, it was unseen, and likely unlooked for; Navigators were not exactly famed for their combat abilities. Still, the astartes had reminded her that some xenos species were either known, or likely, to be immune to her Eye, so a holdout weapon should be carried in addition to the las-pistol she wore openly at her right hip. Of course the rest of the crew bore bolt pistols for their higher stopping power, but her lighter skeletal structure, a product of generations born and bred on a low-gravity world, meant she needed two hands to use one. The energy weapon was both lighter and more comfortable, not to mention that she was more accurate with it.

Walking along the corridor she paused at the door to the firing range observation balcony, then went in. Janey, unarmoured, was operating a recording camera; Sedreth was instructing Kat in his usual mellow tones.

The slender girl looked up and nodded a greeting.

"Sixty-eight percent," she said quietly. "She's getting better."

Astrid smiled slightly; it was a big improvement. "That's up by twelve percent on last week, isn't it?"

Not looking up from her recording equipment, Janey nodded again. "I think she's feeling more comfortable in locked stance. That makes a big difference. We made a tweak or two to her armour settings too. That's what they're discussing now."

"Dare I ask what Sedreth considers competent?"

A deep voice came from the firing range below their balcony. "On moving targets, ninety-eight percent at anything between ten and forty metres, ninety-five percent out to two hundred metres, and at least eighty-five out to four hundred. The weapon's accurate range without additional suspensors goes down drastically after that, and none of you have the enhanced eyesight, even with helmet autosenses, that would allow the retention of a high level of accuracy. Below ten metres, drop the damned thing and engage with a normal bolter, or bolt pistol and blade if you can; it's too clumsy a weapon unless you're a full astartes."

Kat's higher tone added, "Thanks for that, Astrid. Make me feel really pleased with myself, why don't you?"

She leaned over to look down at them. "You're still better than me. And twelve percent is a good improvement. Anyway, since you're all busy, I'm going up to the bridge." She gave them a quick smile, though whether it was returned or not she couldn't tell with the helmets on, and headed for the lift.

Behind her she heard the deep male voice say, "Ready weapon," then the metallic thunder started up again, audible even through the closed range doors. Her lips tugged up and she took the lift in better mood.

Sara was frowning when Astrid came onto the bridge, but looked up and smiled briefly. "Astrid. Just the person I was about to page."

"What's the problem, captain?" They were only refuelling; that would not normally require her attention in any way, even if they had been caught by a gravity well.

She indicated her console head-up display, which held a system hologram. "See here. That's an anomalous reading. We're not in warp, but I'm picking up what appears to be warp energies from somewhere in this system. They shouldn't be there, and the anomaly's not any sort of pre-transition spike I've ever seen."

Astrid looked at the indicated section. "I agree. I've never seen a reading like it. Captain, you will want to close your eyes, please."

Sara nodded and did so, also turning her back on the Navigator. A few deep breaths, and she opened her Eye, stretching out her senses towards the distant energy source. After a few seconds she closed and covered the Eye again. "Captain, I will have to use the interface. I'll be online in about five minutes." She didn't suggest the captain cut short the combat practice; that was not her decision, and Sara Tarken's judgement was something she had come to have a lot of confidence in.

"Do that. The others are still at drills?"

"Yes, deck eight firing range. Only Kat and Sedreth are armoured though."

"Janey was working blades and gymnastics today. I'll page her and suggest she come up."

"Yes, captain." She turned and walked quickly to the lift and the long corridor that led to her Chair.

"Janey, can you come up to the bridge, please? We have an anomaly in system and I want tacscan online. Sedreth, you and Kat can continue your exercise; it's not an alarm."

"Affirmative, Sara. We shall be finished in another half hour."

"On my way, mummy. Mr Morgan, I'm leaving the recorder on; it's auto-focussed on Kat."

"That is fine, Janey."

Astrid pulled down the interface and lowered herself into the Chair. A flick of the control sealed the door; a necessity since no Navigator would tempt a physical interruption. Anyone needing to contact her could now only go via the interface.

"Navigator Lyognet. Interface online. Greetings." The huge presence was always a reassurance, solid and confident in its own power.

"Interface online. Affirmed. I am grateful for your assistance and request direct access to insystem sensors."

"Am I insufficient in some way, Navigator?"

"Not at all. The captain has detected an unusual anomaly which appears to have a similar profile to the energies of the immaterium, but not of warp translation."

A brief pause; she could sense the ship's machine spirit accessing the scans itself. She still wasn't entirely sure any ship should be able to do that so easily. The machine spirit seemed to sense her trepidation and be amused by it. "Affirmed. Accessing central data stores for possible matches. Scans are online to your interface, Navigator."

"Thankyou. Scans to interface. Tactical scans online to interface. Accessing on my mark." She took a steadying breath, sank into full navigation Trance and felt her Eye open. The system unfolded before her, overlaid with the scan image. There. She floated silently towards the tiny flicker. Hmm, it was growing. A wider instance opened before her; reacting to her scrutiny? Not a warp transition, something else.

"Navigator. Alert. Energy match found. The anomaly is a webgate. Such are used by both Eldar and Dark Eldar. It is likely to be hostile."

"Understood."

She spoke, or more accurately subvocalised for audible translation, into her vox. "Captain, the anomaly appears to an Eldar, or Dark Eldar, webgate. It will need monitoring."

The reply was almost immediate, though the second or so delay in translation from audio to interface as always felt like forever when she was in Trance. "Acknowledged, Astrid. Can you remain online? Your observations are less likely to be noticed than an active scan."

"Affirmative, captain. I shall continue to monitor." She cut the vox. "The gate must be monitored. I shall remain synchronised to you to do so."

"Affirmative. My fuel tanks are 83.713 percent full. Refuelling complete in four hundred and thirteen seconds. Arm retraction will take a further seven hundred and forty-three seconds."

Not quite seven minutes. Allowing for fuelling arm retraction, about fifteen minutes before they could reasonably manoeuvre, and near twenty to guarantee avoidance of possible damage to the refuelling arm. "Acknowledged. Query: according to data records how much time is needed for webgate transition?"

"Unknown. Eldar encounters have typically been with craft-ships in realspace. Dark Eldar raiders have not been observed entering a system using a webgate. Outward transition varies according to stored records; observed time range for opening of a webgate is from seventy point zero six seconds to four hundred and twenty-five point three nine seconds. Outward translation appears to be virtually instantaneous, although I have not pursued through a webgate."

"Query: did the time range correlate with the size of the Eldar vessel?"

"Negative. The fastest opening recorded was by a small Eldarin warship of frigate-class, but the second fastest was by the craftworld known as Biel-tan, believed to mass in excess of Luna. The longest period observed was a single cruiser-class vessel. Standard statistical tests indicate no reasonable correlation to size of vessel, number of vessels, mass of vessel, or energy output. My data is incomplete, but Imperial observers noted during the ninety-second and one hundred and fortieth expeditions of the Great Unification Crusade that webgates appeared to be independent of status of the using vessel. Recorded theories suggest that each webgate is a pathway to an extant network used by the Eldar to travel interstellar space without using the warp. The status of the proposed network, how it might be maintained, and when or how it was created are unknown."

Interesting. "Query: do records hold any theory of webgate response to psychic energy?"

"Working. Affirmative. Observations by the Imperial Heralds Legion in the second century of the thirtieth millennium found that a webgate was apparently directed as a weapon against one of their capital ships. The Imperial vessel was ripped in two when the webgate manifested itself directly through it. The Emperor was present in person during this encounter and utilised his own psychic energies to close the webgate allowing the Eldar ships to be destroyed. The information on this encounter was passed to all Legions, together with a warning. There are no other records of this event repeating itself during the Crusade and I have not observed such since. Extrapolation suggests that such abilities might be beyond the majority of Eldar vessels, or it would be observed more frequently as no vessel – regardless of magnitude – could defend against it."

That made sense. But it indicated that a webgate might be sensitive to an active scan by her. Best to be cautious and monitor the thing as passively as possible.

"Maintain passive scan for the moment; I shall remain under interface."

"Affirmed. Tactical scan bridge station confirms passive observance."

Astrid lay back in the Chair. The lights dimmed further, leaving her in semi-darkness.

Janey leaned back in her chair and stretched, flexing her hands rather like a cat extending its claws. She had been watching the scans for more than an hour now, but the webgate remained stubbornly inactive beyond the first energy spike that had drawn her mother's attention in the first place. One eye on the display, she worked cramped muscles in small groups as Sedreth had taught her, starting at her neck.

As she was working her right upper leg a flicker of new energy glinted orange on the display. "Mummy, we have another energy output." She reached for the fine controls, swinging her legs back together from the obtuse angle she'd been holding as she did so. "Definitely more energy. Rising fast. Should I go to standard scans?"

"Not yet. Morgan, Kat, what is your status?"

The deep voice came back instantly. "We are warming down, Sara. I was about to send Kat to get cleaned up before her watch."

"Don't worry about that; stay in armour. Can you both come up please? That webgate is starting to give out energy. I think it might be about to open."

"Acknowledged. On our way. Can you bring our stations to active, please?"

Janey simply nodded at her mother, her hands playing a familiar symphony on the consoles. Stations seven and three glowed with energy, Kat's HUD coming to ready, and Sedreth's three holoscreens bringing up system vectors and possible targeting arcs.

"Shields online. Lances to standby. Main batteries to standby."

Far below them, trickles of energy ran through the automated machinery; subroutines ran weapons checks and loaded ordinance. The great plasma reactors raised their output to cope with the increased demand as the shield generators and main lances sucked power.

"Captain," Astrid, from her Navigator Throne, "I have activity. Faint, but a definite psychic trace of warp transit. Something is about to exit that webgate."

"Affirmative, Navigator. We are going to battle conditions."

"Battle conditions. Affirmative, captain," came the immediate reply.

"Battle. It is good."

"You may be damaged," she replied.

"An irrelevance. War is my purpose. The protection of humanity in the Emperor's name." The great voice sounded almost smug in her mind. "No xenos menace will stand before me and live."

"In the Emperor's name." She engaged her combat harness and lent herself fully to the ship.

"Confirmed. Escort-class vessel, unknown type. Markings are not in the database. Second ship exiting. Third ship. All three are of similar design, approximately 70% of the mass of a Cobra-class destroyer."

"Three vessels confirmed, Janey. Main lances online and standing by. Main batteries online and standing by. All weapons hot. Void shields to max."

"Anything else on system plot, Kat?"

"No, captain. The webgate appears to be closing behind the ships."

Sara thought for a moment. "Alright. Janey, open a channel. Let's see who they are before we pick a fight. Keep us cloaked though; no sense in letting them know where precisely we are."

"Channel to your one, mummy."

"This is Imperial trader Eyes of the Phoenix for the three ships which have entered this system. You are in territory of the Imperium of Man. Please identify yourselves."

The vid stayed blank for several moments; on the tactical displays the three ships had turned and were headed towards them, still four AUs distant, but closing at a reasonable 0.13c.

"Captain, I'm reading an increase in energy on the dorsal structures. Could be lances of some type."

"It looks like they can see through the cloak, or at least managed to triangulate on our signal. Let's try again." She felt the familiar adrenaline increase. Here they went again. "This is Imperial trader Eyes of the Phoenix for the three ships which have entered this system. You are in territory of the Imperium of Man. Please identify yourselves."

This time there was a reply, audio only. It didn't sound friendly. The three vessels started to accelerate towards them.

"Anyone recognise that?"

Sedreth nodded without turning. "It sounds like the language of the Eldar. Something about a kabal, which I truly hope I am mistaken about."

"Why?"

"Because it would mean they are Dark Eldar, out for prisoners to enslave for torture and eventual death."

"That doesn't sound good. Time to lance range?"

"Two minutes forty. I expect they will attempt to split our fire."

"Makes sense. I would too. Everyone strapped in? This could get fairly interesting."

A chorus of cut-off laughs. "Affirmative, captain."

She gave a death's head grin. "Let's surprise them, shall we?" she said, and shoved the engines to full.

On the bridge of his raid-ship Ed-lokirin, Dracon Syamvi Tind licked his lips in anticipation. A fat human trade-ship. How very convenient. It seemed decently equipped too, with a primitive cloaking device which prevented a proper lock. He allowed himself to feel mild amusement. His three ships would have no difficulty in ripping open its defences for his warriors to board.

"Attack pattern tansar. Prepare to board once their shields are down."

Acknowledgements came back swiftly; he was not, even amongst the Trueborn of Commorragh, known for suffering fools gladly.

"Execute."

His three ships split from each other like the petals of a razor-flower. The human vessel seemed to suddenly leap forward, faster than any bloated trader should have been able. Disrupted by the sudden acceleration the enemy's cloak faltered and fell, revealing,... "That's not a blasted trader. Attack pattern veldin. Move, curse you."

Even as his other ships responded the massive human vessel opened fire. Tind didn't even have time to curse as the massive lance strike smashed through his command's fragile shields and annihilated its superstructure. The terror took him as his bridge dissolved in a blaze of energy. She who thirsts.

"Direct hit with main lances. Enemy ship severely damaged."

"That's odd. They don't appear to have much shielding," said Kat. "I thought Eldar technology was usually more advanced than ours?"

"Dark Eldar tend to rely on speed and manoeuvre rather than armour. They are fast and well-armed but if you can hit them solidly you can do serious damage."

"Incoming message," said Janey.

It was clearly via an artificial translator. "Clever mon-keigh. You will be worthy of great suffering." The message cut out abruptly.

"They're manoeuvring to avoid our fire arcs," said Sedreth calmly as incoming energies burst and sparkled against the void shields.

"The damaged one isn't. Give it a full broadside, Morgan. It might still be dangerous." She brought her ship about to let the batteries bear. The shields took more impacts from the speedy little ships, but held without a flicker.

"Target locked. Fire."

"Direct hits. She's breaking up."

An enormous flare of energy on the displays.

"Target destroyed."

On her raider Lodar-iainin, Dracon Estlith Xolisd cursed quietly. She had not liked Tind, but he had been competent. The Kabal could not afford to lose a second ship, not on a minor raid like this. Worse, their weapons were barely making a dent in the thrice-damned Imperial's powerful void shields. All the mon-keigh needed was a lucky shot and a second ship would be destroyed just as Tind's had been.

"Get me Hekatrix Alein."

The wych appeared on her screen. Estlith didn't waste time with pleasantries. "Our weapons aren't even denting that thing's shields. And their gunners are actually competent. Sooner or later they'll get lucky."

"I concur. We withdraw?"

"Yes. Tind's foolishness has us in a fight we cannot win. Today. But there will be other days."

"Agreed. I shall take great pleasure in the suffering of this 'Tarken'. But until that day, we have other prey to hunt."

Estlith raised a finger in acknowledgement. The link cut off. "Make for system zenith, max. I have no intention of joining that fool Tind."

A hiss from her left; she rolled instinctively aside. The knife-strike barely grazed her shoulder armour. Gtiers. Ambitious prick.

She came to her feet, blade in hand. "Continue on course," she said in a hiss of cold fury, keeping her eyes on her treacherous lieutenant. "This is not a place to sit back and ignore your jobs. Unless you want us blown to atoms?"

Gtiers snarled. "You run from the mon-keigh. You are weak. They are big but they are clumsy. We must attack."

A single bolt of energy slammed into his chest, leaving only a pair of legs and a partially burnt face, still looking astonished. Trinol lowered her fusion pistol. "He wasn't fit to command anyway. Even if he'd won a formal challenge I would have killed him."

Estlith flicked a finger in agreement. "Where is the mon-keigh vessel?"

"It is not attempting pursuit, Drakon."

"Good. Open a portal and get us out of here. Then get me contact with the Kabal. They need to know that there is a mon-keigh cruiser in this region posing as a trade vessel. This is a new tactic for the mon-keigh and one that could cause problems in future."

"They're opening a gate. Both ships are leaving the system." Kat's voice was calm and collected.

"Very well. Navigator, how long before we can set course for the Lithrax system? We're almost overdue with that molybdenum and cobalt shipment."

"I can be ready in an hour at the most, captain. Although I would prefer to have a proper meal before we leave, if possible."

"Make it two hours. A decent meal will suit all of us, I think."

The skirmish in the Sula Abet system went unrecorded in Imperial archives, and all that was left to show it had ever happened was a slowly expanding globe of debris which was soon drawn into the nearby gravitational pull of one the system's five gas giants. But the Dark Eldar do not forget an enemy, and Eyes of the Phoenix was duly noted as a vessel to be dealt with by the endlessly warring kabals of Commorragh.

a/n: Apologies for the slowing of updates on this. I'm having difficulties with thesis corrections, and chapter 38 of this story is being a pain as well. Many thanks for sticking with it.