Diem Infamia Chapter 12

"We've got one more day till we sail, so… are we going to make the deadline?" Captain Mandas inquired of the room. Before him were arranged his senior officers, all gathered together in his quarters to report on the last few days. Mandas looked at them and saw their tired faces, the bags under their eyes and the bleary expressions as they swayed on their feet. They had been working triple shifts to get the Averof ready to sail and all of them were wrung out, except Magos Vista of course, the Tech-Priest looked as inscrutable as ever.

Commander Grenfeld was the first to declare, "We've rounded up ninety-five percent of the junior officers and the midshipmen, they aren't happy about being dragged back on board at such short notice but they know better than to argue with an emergency recall. Petty officers are sweeping the docks for the rest."

Mandas sighed, "They'll probably find them in the bars and brothels."

Grenfeld scowled as she said, "If we don't find them, we'll be short-handed. We should skin them alive for that."

Mandas however stated, "We can't fault them for not expecting an emergency recall, if they get back before we sail a verbal reprimand will suffice. Anyone who isn't here in time will be a matter for the naval provosts and they can expect to have the book thrown at them. The shortfall we can make up with fresh recruits from the naval academies."

Mr Fotrum interjected, "Darned stuck-up Tectum brats, looking down their noses at everyone else. I'll teach 'em it takes more than breeding to run a starship."

Mandas eyed the officer from Angles' Redoubt and stated firmly, "You'll be too busy tending to our guns for that. Are we ready yet?"

Fotrum rubbed at his unshaven jaw, disguising a plethora of scars, and answered, "We're loading Macrocannon rounds and ordnance as fast as we can, it will be tight, but we should have full magazines and torpedo racks before we depart."

Mandas raised an eyebrow and inquired, "What of the energy weapons?"

Fotrum shrugged as he answered, "We couldn't do everything, blessings and calibrations will have to wait until we set sail."

At that Magos Vista exclaimed, "I must protest, the Machine Spirits will be offended by such rough treatment!"

Mandas glared at the Tech-Priest, whose metal face was hidden under a red robe that bulged in places no man should have extremities, and said, "You have problems of your own, how are the reactors?"

Mechanicus adepts should have no emotions but Vista sounded smug as he replied, "I have completed the consecration of the reactors, all is as it should be."

"Impressive work," Mandas declared, "That just leaves the plasma drives, I suggest you get on it."

At that point Mr Avergis interjected, "The bridge officers are working round the clock to prepare, they should have the ship ready in time, but they will useless afterwards. We need to let them rest before we set sail, else we will crash into the first asteroid we see."

Mandas sighed, "I'm not sure we have the time, the deadline is closing and the Rear-Admiral will need to be greeted properly."

Avergis shook his head and reiterated, "Tired crews produce mistakes, someone will make a blunder and we'll be too worn out to catch it. The crew need sleep."

Mandas rubbed his eyes wearily then said, "Damn it, you're right. We will work until the Admiral arrives, then send one-third of the crew to grab some rack time. The rested crew shift will take us out of dock while the rest recover. Then we will run three-shift rotations until we're back in some semblance of normalcy."

It wasn't ideal but despite thousands of years of starfaring humanity had not found a way to overcome their own limitations. Only genetically enhanced soldiers, servitors and massively Augmeted adepts could disregard the need to sleep, for the general masses that made up the Navy rest was essential. Mandas could feel it too; he hadn't slept in two days and was having trouble keeping the room in focus.

Thankfully Mr Rondis spoke up then to declare, "I've charted our course to Lesser Tectum, we are blessed that the planet's orbits are in close alignment. Once we cross the perimeter of Greater Tectum's moons it should only take us three days to reach our destination. With only fifteen moons navigating Lesser Tectum's orbit is no bother, not when compared to what we're used to."

Mandas was relieved to hear it and said, "Sterling work as always Mr Rondis. The Admiral will be pleased."

Faces relaxed at that but Commander Grenfeld inquired, "Have we received an official list of the ships that will make up this flotilla?"

Mandas picked up a data-slate from his desk and said, "Damn Munitorum drones keep changing their minds, adding and removing ships at random. The current order has the Averof as the command ship, being the largest ship Rear-Admiral Dimakos will raise his flag with us. We will have five cobras, Moirai squadron, and a dozen transports in our fleet train to haul resources back to base. There will also be two Escort carriers, the Phylarch and the Choregos, embarking the 171st Fury wing for strike craft cover. No bombers unfortunately, not that we'll need them. There is one last addition, the Spartan under Captain Elias, a Siluria class light cruiser."

Grenfeld shook her head in bafflement and said, "Siluria? I've never seen one of those, hell, no one has, it's little more than a name in a ledger of the Fleet Reserves. She must have been laying cold for thousands of years before they dragged her out of mothballs."

Mandas concurred, "She's an unknown element but times are desperate, we will have to adapt."

Mr Fotrum scowled as he said, "Do we have any inkling of her capabilities?"

Mandas scrolled through his data-slate and replied, "Captain Elias was good enough to send me a note, where was it… ah yes here it is. Ahem, the Siluria class was designed by the same minds who conceived the Avenger class Grand Cruiser. Squadrons of them were intended to follow in the wake of those line breakers, lending fire support and running down stragglers. It was a nice idea, but in combat they were too small and lightly armoured to survive those slugging matches and too slow to give chase to fleeing escorts. Siluria's had impressive broadsides, for relatively small vessels, but they were glass cannons, far too many were lost in combat and the design was retired."

Fotrum scowled as he spat, "We must be truly desperate to call upon them."

Mandas shrugged as he said, "We will make do. The real issue is the Admiral himself, what have we learned of him… Commissar?"

Eyes turned to one corner of the room where Kaath-Dousmanis was sitting in an armchair, staring vaguely off into space, clearly not paying attention. It took a good few seconds for him to realise everybody was looking at him but then he started and said, "What?"

Mandas sighed, the Commissar's laxity was a growing burden and sometimes the Captain thought he should be packed off to an obscure office somewhere in Salamis base. But then the Admiralty would assign the Averof a new one, probably someone with his own ideas about how a ship should be run, so Kaath-Dousmanis was the lesser of two evils. Mandas let it go and calmly repeated, "The Rear-Admiral?"

Kaath-Dousmanis' face lit up and he said, "The Dimakos family is old, very old, they can trace their lineage back to the founding of Battlefleet Karyl. Never a ruling family, like those ancient rivals in the Dousmanis or the Kontouriotis lines, but still very respected and influential. They are firmly behind the Dousmanis the Younger's reforms and they are reaping the benefits, as one of the Lord Admiral's closest allies they have received several high positions in the Admiralty."

Mandas accepted this but Grenfeld pressed, "But what of the man himself?"

It was a valid question, the fleet was huge and there were scores of admirals Mandas had never met, this Dimakos was the true wild card in this mission. Kaath-Dousmanis sniffed then replied, "I made a few calls and found out Vernard Dimakos has a long and distinguished career. He spent most of his time patrolling the Tempestus end of the Saint Karyl Trail, fighting off pirates, Orks, K'nib raiders and Traitor invasions. His real claim to fame was the liberation of Desoloia; he broke the back of a Death Guard blockade fleet and defended the orbits long enough for the Guard to steamroller over the invaders."

Mandas was glad to hear it; even the most snobbish old blood artistocrat wouldn't be allowed to rise to Flag rank without some significant victories to his name. Yet he knew that victory was years ago and asked, "What's he been doing since then?"

Kaath-Dousmanis frowned as he explained, "He was made a Rear-Admiral and assigned to run a squadron of fleet tenders, patching up wounded ships so they could limp back to dock. The sort of thing they like a Rear-Admiral to oversee, to get them used to the logistical aspects of running a fleet. His last assignment was to repair the Battleship Hyperion, after she was gutted battling Tyranids over Angles Redoubt. Rumour has it he completed his assignment in record time and took her into the Warp to sail for Tectum… then the Noctis Aeterna hit."

Gasps arose and Grenfeld exclaimed in disbelief, "They were in the Warp when the Astronomican went out?!"

Kaath-Dousmanis nodded as he said, "Yes, an uncle of mine told me it was rough going. Years passed in realspace before the Hyperion was spat out of the Warp and when she finally emerged nine-tenths of the crew were dead. The Battleship was quarantined by the Inquisition and she is still being scoured for Warp taint. The Rear-Admiral himself took grievous wounds and has been in augmetic reconstruction surgery since then. This is his first real command since he was cleared for active duty."

Mandas struggled to imagine it, the Noctis Aeterna had been bad enough in realspace but the idea of being trapped in the Warp during that nightmare was bowel-loosening. He couldn't picture what Admiral Dimakos had endured and didn't want to know. He drew in a slow breath and said, "Well, we can only hope he approves of our work. You all know the score; this man can make us or break us. If we can convince him we are the right people for the job he may let us keep the Averof, if not we'll all be replaced. I know none of you want to be stuck in a supply depot for the rest of your careers, so we need to impress the Admiral. I want every officer to work his socks off until he gets here, every bulkhead must be shining and someone throw a bucket of water over the ratings, let's see if we can't do something about that stench."

Chuckles arose and Mandas felt the tension lessening then he ordered, "Hop to it, look alive people!"

The gathering broke up and the senior officers filed out, all save one. Mr Avergis remained behind and said, "Captain… a word please. I have a problem."

Mandas was surprised by the request and said, "Of course, what's the issue?

The Master of Asupex looked down and said, "I didn't want to say this in front of the others, but I've been offered a teaching position at the Salamis naval academy."

Mandas blinked at that and said, "You have? Why didn't you tell me?"

Avergis sighed, "It's conditional on starting immediately."

Mandas understood what he was saying, if he sailed on this mission the offer would expire, coming with the Averof would cost Avergis his chance. Sadly the Imperial Navy had little concern for the plans of individuals and Mandas had a whole crew to think of. The Captain sighed, "I'm sorry to hear that, but would you want to retire to a desk job?"

Avergis scowled as he stated, "With respect sir, I'm not married to the ship. I've done my share of tours and then some. I've sailed the stars and crossed the Warp more times than I care to remember, I'm ready to settle down. I rather like the idea of having a home to come back to and maybe starting a family."

Mandas thought that sounded dreadfully dull, but not all men were like him. He drew in a breath and said, "I'm sorry to say the needs of the Navy come first, the God-Emperor calls and we obey. But once things settle down I'll put in a recommendation for you, there are many naval schools in need of experienced teachers. I can't promise Salamis will wait for you, but I'll use whatever influence I have to get you a good job."

Avergis smiled slightly and said, "Thank you sir, that's generous of you. With your permission, I'll get back to work."

The Captain nodded and watched the man depart. Then he turned and eyed his bed forlornly. He was bone tired and wrung out, a few hours sleep sounded very appealing, but there was work to be done. Wearily Mandas returned to the piles of reports awaiting his attention and began sorting through them. There was less than a day until the Averof left dock and he had to make sure everything was ready. If it wasn't then everything he cared about would be ripped away from him.