VanStalker

by DarkBlade the Damned

This is a crossover of Vandread and the DeathStalker novels by Simon R Green. Chapter 9. Tensions amongst the crew reach boiling point causing Hibiki and Tam to flee the Nirvana.

5. VanStaler Chapter 4 Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or DeathStalker.
Vandread belongs to Studio Gonzo.
DeathStalker belongs to Simon R Green.

VanStalker Chapter 4) Part 1.

Everywhere where the crew gathered on the Nirvana there was chatter. An undercurrent of excited discussion pervaded the entire ship as the crew discussed the results of the last battle. "Did you see the images? Meia's dread and that man's mecha combined!"

"I thought the man combined with Dita's dread?"

"He did, but now he's done it with Meia's as well."

"That's just wrong, combining with men the very idea is sick!"

"But together they did manage to destroy then enemy and save the ship, maybe there's something to this."

Conversations along these lines took place all over the ship to a variety of reactions. But the general reaction was one of confusion. Although they were pirates the women on the Nirvana had all been raised on Majere. Raised to hate all men and know them only as enemies. Now their lives seemed to depend upon working with the four males that found themselves now part of the crew. Some were enlightened by this and started to think of possibilities that had never before occurred to them. Like living at peace with the men. Others confused by the new thoughts sought comfort in their old ways of thinking.

"He's dangerous there is no doubt about it. You saw what he did to those machines. Who can say what he could do to the rest of us." Barnette, Celeste and a group of other women were sharing a table in the cafeteria. Given the lack of activity in the last few days it was unsurprising that Tam's battle was once again the main source of discussion amongst them. By now all of the crew had heard about Tams battle, but most had ignored it. After all the majority of the crew were technicians with little or no experience in boarding actions. They had all seen the images of the dread battle and been awed by it, the news that a man had smashed some machines seemed minor compared to that. Only those who had actually been there, who had seen the smashed remains of the machines could really appreciate the level of destruction that had been visited upon them. And only they could imagine what would happen if that force was turned upon the crew of the ship. "But Celeste, he saved us all. If it hadn't been for him those things would have been able to get to engineering before we could stop them! He saved the entire ship." Louise spoke up. Celeste turned to look at her. "Yes he did. I'm not disputing that Louise, but the very fact that he did only causes more questions. I saw the look in his eyes before we left him there. He was prepared to die, expecting to die. Then suddenly he was able to destroy all those machines. We know that he lost his memories but they are slowly returning. What if that changes him? I'm not saying that he means us harm Louise, at least not right now, but that might change." For the first time Barnette spoke up. "There's something else." The others turned to look at her questioningly. "You said earlier that before you opened the final bulkhead that he called to you to stop." Celeste nodded.
"So how did he know that the machines were on the other side?" having said this Barnette got up and left leaving may of the others with thoughtful and worried looks on their faces.

At a table close by sat Elysia from the register. She had overhead the conversation from the nearby table and was troubled by it. Troubled because it had concerned the man that had saved her life. She could admit that now. When she had seen the crate falling at her she had, in some part of her mind known that she was going to die. THE thought had frozen her. Then when she had been able to think again she had been lying on her back with the man on top of her. She had reacted the only way she knew, cursing and hitting the enemy that had her pinned. She felt guilty about that now. Men were the enemy, but this one had saved her life. She didn't know how to respond to that. She may have been heartened if she knew just how many on the ship shared her confusion.

Meanwhile Ezera was making her way to the sick bay for another check-up. Ever since Duero had found out that she was pregnant, and exactly what that meant he had insisted on regular checkups so that he could monitor her condition. Sometimes Ezera wasn't sure whether he was doing so just because he was curious about her condition, a condition no doctor on Tarak had been exposed to in the history of the planet, or because he was concerned about her health. Either way Ezera was grateful for his help. This was her first pregnancy and she was feeling very uncertain. Despite the fact that Duero was a man and was having to learn about pregnancy as he went along the doctor had an air of calm and confidence about him that helped to ease her fears. However when she arrived at the medical section she was surprised to find it empty.
There was no sign of the doctor, or of Paiway the young nurse who had become his assistant. Then Ezera noticed that one of the beds in the section had been enclosed by a white curtain. From behind the curtain there was a fair and regular beep of a machine. Curious Ezera moved towards it.
"Doctor? Paiway? Is anyone there?" Still calling out Ezera parted the curtains with her hand and stepped inside.
What she saw very nearly brought a scream from her lips.
Lying in the bed, surrounded by medical equipment was a figure. It was so covered in bandages that for a moment Ezera had difficulty in identifying it. A blanket covered the body up to the waist. The left arm was folded over the chest, it was completely encased in white plaster. Only a few patches of skin could be seen of the torso, the rest was completely covered in bandages. But it was the face that drew the attention. Only the right half was visible, the left was covered by a bandage that ran from the top of the figures head down to its chin. Somehow the whole effect made the figure seem otherworldly. But as Ezera started at that strange half face she could at last recognise the figure that lay before her. It was Tamorasp, usually called Tam, the man who had appeared literally out of nowhere. Ezera had head the rumours around the ship, had heard that Tam had fought some machines that had boarded the Nirvana. She had heard that he had been injured in the fight, but nothing had prepared her for this!
Suddenly a hand touched her on the shoulder. Ezera started and almost screamed before she recognised Duero.

"Oh Doctor, you startled me."

"I apologise Ezera." said Duero as he gently lead her away from the sick bed. "I didn't want to disturb my other patient. I didn't mean to startle you."

"Your other patient? You mean Tam?"

"Yes, his wounds are very severe. I don't want to risk him waking up until they have had a chance to heal further."

"What happened to him?"

"Some machines apparently got on board during the last attack. Tam held them off in time for a security detail to be assembled but as you can see he was gravely wounded in the process."

"Oh. Will he be ok?" The doctor sighed deeply and glanced back at the covered sickbed.

"I don't know. His injuries are still serious, only time will tell if he will pull through. Now what can I do for you?"

"Oh, it seems silly now but I thought I would just come down for my check up, but maybe I chose a bad time."

"No no that's fine. Just let me get the equipment ready and we'll start."

So Ezera sat back on the examination table and eased herself into the now familiar routine. But throughout the procedure she found that her eyes were constantly drawn to the enclosed bed in the corner and its single occupant.

No sooner had Ezera left than Duero found himself the recipient of another set of visitors.

"Good evening doctor."

"Captain, Sub Commander, Gascognue. Good evening." Magno stood in the centre of the sickbay, Buzzum and Gascognue standing at her sides. Both her hands were folded over the top of her cane upon which she was obviously leaning heavily. Not for the first time Duero wondered how such an Old and seemingly frail women had become the captain of a group of pirates.

"I noticed Ezera in the corridor on the way here. I'm glad that you are trying to help her with her pregnancy."

"It's a pleasure to do so. The idea of women gestating children within their own bodies is fascinating." Magno nodded amicably.
"And what about" she said significantly, lifting up her cane to point at the covered bed. "Your other patient?"

Duero sighed. He had been expecting this, and dreading it. Part of him wanted to conceal what he had found from her. After all Tam was a man and he couldn't be certain how they would react to what he was about to say. But on the other hand she was the captain of this ship. The lives of everyone before were her responsibility and she had the right to know about anything that might affect them.

"Come and see." He said leading them over to the bed and drawing back the covers. Magno and Gascognue gasped in shock at the extent of the wounds revealed, the subcommander said nothing, but Duero saw he eyes widen briefly.
Recovering Magno stepped closer until she stood at the side of the bed.

"Poor boy to go through so much. I'm surprised he's still alive."

"I'm not surprised" said Duero. "I am astonished." The others turned towards him in surprise.
"What do you mean doctor." Asked Gascognue.
"I mean that according to everything I know, everything I was taught that he should be dead after what he went through."

"I didn't think he was that badly wounded." Duero shook his head.

"The wounds weren't deep but several of them cut through major arteries. By the time they got him to sick bay his blood pressure was so low I was certain that he was going to die. He simply didn't have enough blood left in him to keep his body going. In addition every muscle in his body was strained to the point of tearing. It was like he had almost torn himself apart doing whatever it was he was doing. By all rights his body should have just given out after the strain it had been under."

The others absorbed this for a moment before Magno spoke. "B.C. mentioned that there were large quantities of drugs in his system, some of unknown to you. Could any of these have kept him alive?"

"Undoubtedly they did. The massive quantities of adrenaline in his system would have kept his heart going, and the endorphins would have blocked out much of the pain. As to the others I don't know what they are but I have been able to identify the function of several of them. One is a highly effective clotting agent. It works so well that any shallow cut and most deep ones will scab over and stop bleeding in a manner of seconds. Unfortunately in Tam's case several of the cuts he suffered were too deep for it to work. Some of the others appear to be a kind of enzyme that when released rapidly converts undigested food and fat reserves into energy. Most of the others I haven't been able to identify yet."

BC was frowning thoughtfully. "Do you have any idea where he could have acquired these chemicals or where he could have manufactured them?"

Duero gave a rueful laugh. "I have no idea how he manufactured them, but I know where they came from. He generated them within his own body!"

The three women stared at him in shock. Gascognue was the first to recover. 'What do you mean he generated them within his own body?"

"Let me show you." Duero turned to a consol and started typing in commands. Soon after a view screen lit up on the wall above Tams bed. It started with an image of his body, then revealed what was underneath the skin. First the tissues and muscles. Then going deeper until the internal organs could be seen. The women grimaced a little at the unsavoury sight but made no other reaction.
"What exactly are we supposed to be looking at doctor?"

'These." Duero typed in more commands and the view screen split into four smaller screens each of which zoomed in on a small organ located in separate areas of the body. One just below the brain. Two near the heart and the last lower in the torso. Although they varied in size and shape there was an obvious similarity between them.
"From what I can tell these are glands of some kind. Each of them appears to produce and store a variety of chemicals. It appears that at some kind of command from the body they are able to release those chemicals directly into the bloodstream, spreading them quickly throughout his body."

"I didn't know men had organs like that" commented Gascognue.

"We don't. I have never seen or even heard of anything like these before. And the organs do not match the rest of his body, they are different somehow. Although I haven't been able to determine in exactly what way."

"I thought you said when we first found him that he was completely human. That there was nothing unusual about him."

"That's right subcommander."

"So how did you miss this?"

"I didn't Subcommander, when I examined him for the first time these things were not there." Duero called up another section of screens. "These are the images I took of his body when I examined him for the first time. As you can see the organs are not there."

"Then where did they come from"

"I can only think of two possibilities. Either they were somehow implanted on him some time in the last few weeks, which seems unlikely. Or.."

The doctors voiced trailed off. "Or?" Magno prompted him. Duero stared down at Tams silent form a troubled look on his face.

"Or he somehow grew the organs within himself within the last few weeks. And that is even more ridiculous."

Magno spoke up again. "This isn't the first time our new guest has done something unusual." Duero looked at her questioningly.

"That incident in the treatment plant, you remember? When we rushed you there with an emergency call."

Duero nodded. "Yes you were concerned that he might be suffering some ill effects from the fumes in the chamber. But when we got there he appeared to be fine."

"Yes he was fine, but again he shouldn't have been." Duero and the others looked at her questioningly. So Magno explained Parfaits findings, how she was convinced that the toxic air in the plant should have killed him within two hours and how there had not been sufficient air in the tanks to last the entire time he was in there.

Gascognue interjected "But couldn't he have used the air in shifts to avoid the worst of the poison?" Magno nodded "That may have worked but that's not what he did. Parfait's crews checked the tanks, only half an hour of air had been used. That means he would have been exposed to those gasses for at least five and a half hours. After that long the cumulative poison should have killed him, but somehow it barely even affected him."

Duero stared at Magno silently for a moment, then he appeared to come to a decision. "There's something else you should see." Once again Duero called up an image on the screen, this time he focused in on Tams injured hand. Duero manipulated the image until it was in x-ray mode. Soon only the stark white outlines of the bones appeared against a black background. Once again he zoomed in on the image until thin hairline cracks could be seen on the bones of the arm. "That doesn't look too bad doctor, I thought you said that he was in danger of losing his arm?" Interjected Buzzum.

"This is the current state of his hand subcommander. This is the way it appeared a few days ago when they brought him in." Another image now appeared on the view screen. This one was vastly different. Many of the bones were bent and twisted in odd directions. Some were plainly broken in two while others had chunks missing out of them, a few of which could still be seen on the x-ray.

Gascognue broke in "You mean after just a few days."

"Yes" Duero interrupted. "He has managed to heal what should have been a crippling injury in just a few short days. In another day or two his bones should be completely healed. Something that even with Majere's advanced medical treatments, should have taken months or even years. And it's not just his bones. His muscles have also started healing and are almost back to normal.

"Do you have any idea how he is doing this?" asked Magno.

Duero waved his hand at the tubes and machines attached to Tams body. "The drips I have him on a basically a broken down solution of our food pills mixed in water. There are enough nutrients in one of those packs to keep a man going for a week. He has been consuming an average of four a day! Somehow his body is absorbing and processing the nutrients at an incredible rate."

"Could it be the drugs in his system?" asked Gascognue.

"No. The drugs are helping his body process the nutrients into energy, but the body is also repairing itself at an incredible rate. Within a day or so he should be completely healed of all his physical wounds. Which leaves you with a decision to make Captain."

Magno looked at the doctor in surprise.

Duero stood there a moment an uncomfortable look on his face. Finally he faced Magno, but he kept his head down as if addressing the floor.
"I don't know why Tam hasn't regained consciousness yet, but I assume that he is currently so exhausted that he has effectively fallen asleep until his body recovers. So if any action is to be taken against him it had best be now."

The women were now starting at the Doctor in shock, but he continued unseeing.

"When you asked me to take over as the doctor of this ship I swore I could do so to the best of my ability and devote myself to the wellbeing of the crew.
Part of that duty is to inform you of any potential threats."

"And you see Tam as such" asked Magno in a quiet voice. BC and Gascognue immediately stared at Duero a questioning look on their faces.

Duero continued to speak, his head still turned to the floor. "The fact of the matter is that I don't know. Scientifically he is an impossibility. The speed with which he has managed to heal himself defies belief. Part of me is glad that he is going to be ok. Another part of me is worried at what else he might become. If he has grown those organs since he first appeared, then how else may he change the longer he stays with us?"

Gascognue narrowed her eyes and gave Duero a puzzled look. "Why tell us this, I thought he was your friend?"

This time Duero's head jerked up. His eyes locked on Gascognue's and blazed hotly.
"He is my friend. But I am the doctor of this ship. As such I have a duty to tell the captain of any potential dangers."

"And you have now done so." Said Magno. "Thank you doctor." The small old woman in the drab brown bent over the prostate form of the wounded man. Gently she lifted a hand and cradled the side of his face.
"He didn't have to fight that day. He could have run and left them for us to deal with, but he stayed and honoured the agreement we made. For better or worse Doctor, he, you that kid, even that annoying pilot are all members of this crew now. And I won't do anything harmful to one of my crew members unless they give me a reason to do so. "

Duero signed and straightened his relief apparent. "Thank you Captain."

Magno smiled as she turned to walk away. BC and Gascognue moving to flank her.
"You have nothing to thank me for doctor. Like you I'm doing my duty to the crew.
Keep me appraised on his status and let me know the moment he wakes up."

Later that night Duero made his way towards his bunk in the men's quarters. His mind was more at ease now after his conversation with Magno. Not that the entire situation with Tam made him any less uncomfortable, but at least now he had shared his concerns with the captain. As usual Hibiki was waiting for him as soon as he entered the converted holding cells that now served as the quarters for the men.

"Duero! Hows Tam. Has he woken up yet? Is there any change?

When he first heard that the older man was injured Hibiki had rushed to the sickbay and seemed intent on staying there until he got better. Duero had eventually convinced him that he would only be in the way, but only after Hibiki had extracted a promise from him that he would let him know if there was any change in his condition.

"Hibiki, there has still been very little change. His wounds are healing but as yet he hasn't woken up and I still have no idea when he will."

"But he's getting better, like you said. That means that he should wake up soon!"

Duero sighed, he had his own doubts but he couldn't voice them to the boy. "Yes, hopefully he will wake up within the next few days. Until then we just have to wait and see."

"Can I come and see him?"

"Not tomorrow, but by the next day if he still hasn't woken up then yes."

Finally satisfied Hibiki settled down to sleep.

But as he settled down to sleep Dueros' thoughts were troubled. Even in the short time he had been here Tam had formed a strong bond with Hibiki. If he the changes in Tam continued to progress, if they had to defend themselves against him, how would that affect Hibiki. Be honest, he thought to himself, how will it affect you as well. What will you do if this stranger you have come to think of as a friend becomes an enemy?

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Later that night all was quiet on the Nirvana. Not silent, for a ship is never truly silent. The thrum of power pulsed through every deck like the steady beat of a heart. And here and there the echoing sound of footsteps as a late shift crewman made their way about their duties. So the ship was not truly quiet, but was perhaps as quiet as an operating ship can be. One of the quietest rooms was the sickbay.

All was dark in the room. Only the dull glows of active equipment and the steady beep of monitors gave any indications that anything was underway. Everything appeared peaceful and serene. Especially Tam, lying in his bed, the steady rise and fall of his chest his only movement. But appearances can be deceptive.

Deep in his mind Tam was anything but peaceful. But then recalling bad memories never is.

The Past. INS BlackSword enroute to Khrishaar Prime:

A feeling of tension crackled through the bridge of the Imperial Starcruiser BlackSword like chained lightening. To an unfamiliar observer everything would have appeared calm. Throughout the huge room that made up the command and control core of the giant starship crewmen sat at their stations calmly fulfilling their tasks. Queries and orders from officers were responded to briskly and professionally. T an unfamiliar observer it would have seemed that everything was normal. Only a veteran would have noticed that the crewmen were focused on their duties with a single minded focus that bordered on fervour. Only he would have noticed that the queries and commands were responded to a little too quickly, a little too urgently. Only he would have noticed the signs of a ship about to go to war, for so it was. The last true war the empire had faced had been 300 years ago, during the great rebellion. When the tyrannical rule of Lionstone the XIVth had been overthrown and a constitutional monarchy put in place. None on the ship had been alive during that conflict. Few of them had ever been in combat. For 300 years the empire had known relative peace. The Imperial navy, once the primary tool of Lionstone's oppression had become the peacekeepers of the empire. Called only for serious police actions or to assist in natural disasters beyond a planets ability to cope with. Now they were once again being called upon to fulfil the purpose they had been envisioned for. They were being called to War.

At his duty station Lieutenant Tamorasp Naghanashar stared at his console and pondered. He was assigned as the deputy damage control officer, the ships executive officer, Commander Calavin served as the primary damage control officer. That meant that he had very little to do until Calavin assigned him any work. Not for the first time he cursed his position. Not the job itself, although part of him wished to be manning the gunnery stations, he was experienced enough to know that when the battle started his job could become just as important if not more so. No it was having nothing to do right now that he hated. It gave him too much time to think, too much time to brood, because once again after 300 years the empire was going to war with itself and a part of him could not accept that. He had sworn the oaths, as had everyone on this ship. To protect the empire and to obey its legal government. Now he was being called on to fulfil those oaths. That should have been the end of the matter, but instead he and everyone on this ship found themselves with a choice to make. Now with nothing to do but think he wondered if they had made the right one.
A sudden pulse of information flowed through his comm implant interrupted his thoughts.
Attention, time to emergence 15 minutes, all crew secure for hyperdrive exit. Well this is it he thought, here we go. Another chime sounded. "Attention all hands. This is the captain." Despite himself Tamorasp found his attention turned from the display in front of him and to the man sitting in the command chair in the center of the bridge. Captain Ian Croder. He sat in the command chair like a statue carved from granite. Stiffly upright, his arms lying lightly on the armrests of his chair. The captain was old, his hair liberally streaked with gray.

Croder had been the captain of the BlackSword as long as anyone could remember. He had been given his captaincy long ago, but had never been promoted from it. Some said that was because of his manner. He was a hard task master and a stern disciplinarian. He was also unyielding in the exercise of his orders. Some said he was too much like a captain from Lionstone's time, when captains had obeyed the orders of their commanders no matter what those orders may have been. From the execution of captured prisoners to the scorching of whole worlds. But seeing him sitting there now, calm as if the ship were taking part in an exercise Tamorasp couldn't help but feel glad that if the empire was returning to the times of war then at least they had a captain that would have fitted in with those times.

His attention shifted back to the captain as he started to speak. "Crew of the BlackSword you all know what we are heading into. In less than 15 minutes we will be entering the Khrishaar system. The transmutation board has emplaced transmutation engines over Khrishaar prime. Our orders are to destroy those engines before they can be used on the planets population. Our task will not be easy, forces of the Church Militant and Pure humanity are guarding those engines. But our priority is their destruction all other concerns are secondary. Civilian lives are depending up on it." The captain paused, Tamorasp could see him appearing to consider something for a moment, then he spoke again. "I know some of you have your doubts about the orders we have received. Some of you question whether what we are doing is right. I cannot answer that. But I expect you all to remember one thing. You are all members of the Imperial Fleet. It is your sworn duty to defend all citizens of the Empire and it's allies against all threats, foreign and domestic. We go now to fulfil that oath." Suddenly the captains voiced became animated.
"For the Honour of the Fleet! In the blessed Owens name!" "For Honour. In his name!" the response chorused out from every crewmember. The ship itself seemed to shake with their intensity.

Captain Croder nodded his head satisfied.
"Ten minutes to hyper exit, sections report battle stations readiness." Reports flooded in over the comnet as each section and division on the ship reported its readiness. As each report came in it was acknowledged and verbally confirmed to the captain by the Executive officer. This was largely unnecessary, the information could easily have been communicated through personal com implants. But it was traditional, and com implants could break down or be jammed.
No expression showed on Croder's face, but he appeared to be satisfied.
"Helm give us the countdown to hyper exit."

The helmsman nodded and the countdown began. His voice echoed throughout the ship. Calm and professional.

"Five minutes to Hyper exist." "Four minutes."

"Three minutes."

"Two minutes."

"One minute"

"Coming up on Hyper exit …. Now!"

Suddenly the entire ship shook and every crewmember felt the gut retching feeling so commonly associated with hyper translation. All of the ships formidable power was temporarily diverted to the stardrive. Massive energies whirled and twisted suddenly creating a portal to bring the BlackSword out of the seething realm of energies it had travelled through and returning it to the material realm, and the hell which awaited it.

It the space above Khrishaar prime brilliant lights, wounds in the fabric of space and time suddenly appeared, and through them like avenging angels poured Starcrusiers of the imperial fleet. As soon as they were through the portals closed, as the enormous energies required to maintain them were abruptly cut off. But more flickered in and out as waves of ships continued to appear. Slowly at first then in greater numbers the massive ships emerged. Five, Ten, Twenty, the number continued to increase until a hundred starcrusiers hung in space just outside the range of Khrishaar prime. They hung there beautiful and terrible to behold. Titanic leviathans of battle steel, their running lights shinning as brightly as the stars around them. At first they appeared disorganised, clustered randomly in no particular order. But as more and more ships arrived communications started to fly and groups started to come together in formations and squadrons. But even as they did so every ship started to move towards the green and orange world that lay before them, and specifically towards the glittering Christmas tree like lights that hung in orbit over it.

On the Bridge of the BlackSword orders and reports flowed back and forth between the bridge officers and the captain.

"Plotting confirms we have entered the Khrishaar system, located 50,000 base units from Khrishaar Prime!"

"Plotting set course for Khrishaar prime, least time intercept."

"Engineering, confirmed shutdown of stardrive, diverting power to battle operations."

"Engineering, prioritise power, Manvering, guns and shields. In that order!"

"Tactical, confirming emergence of friendly units, Champion, FarStar, Endeavour and Reliant have emerged."

"Cease the roll call tactical, inform me when the Dutiful Soldier emerges. Until then commence a full scan on Khrishaar Prime. Report on enemy units!"

"Scanning now. Sensors are detecting seven, correction, eight transmutation platforms in geosynchronous orbit over the planet. They appear to be aligned with the major population centers. Also reading twenty starcrusiers in blockade formations around the platforms. Reading additional satellite bodies, possibly weapons platforms. Uploading data to the Tacplot"

In his command chair Croder called up the tactical display and brooded. By spacing out the platforms and splitting their defending forces the opposition would normally have created a perfect target for the fleet to defeat in detail. Bringing all of its forces to bear on the individual platforms to deal with them one at a time. Unfortunately the nature of those platforms made that tactic impossible.

Transmutation was a relatively new technology to the empire. It allowed the conversion of matter into new forms. Asteroids rich in heavy metals could be easily converted into machinery and equipment for use by the citizens of the empire. But there was a darker side to the technology. On a low power setting transmutation machines could also be used to break the bonds that held living beings together. A single transmutation platform could turn the population of a city into a sea of primordial soup in bare seconds. Ten of those platforms could exterminate all life on a planet within minutes. The use of transmutation machines against living beings was outlawed within the empire on pain of death, the transmutation board was supposed to regulate and monitor the use of the machines. But now something had gone wrong, and the directors of the board had aligned with the madness that was now sweeping the empire, and it was up to the fleet to stop them.

"Sir, Communications, Dutiful Soldier has emerged, we are receiving orders from the Flag." "Acknowledge and Confirm. Feed the orders to my display!" "Aye, Aye Sir!" Dutiful Soldier was the taskforce flagship. Now that it had arrived and transmitted its orders the battle could begin.

Croder's face was a mask as he read the orders. But if such control wasn't as natural to him as breathing he would have been grinning from ear to ear.

Satisfied he glanced up to give orders to his crew, as he did so even he could not keep a hit of satisfaction from his voice.
"We have been designated Lead ship of Task force Alpha 5. Our primary target is the platform designated Damocles 3. Communications, orders to the task force, tell them to form up on us, Spear formation.
Manoeuvring take us in, as soon as the other ships have reached formation go to full military power. Engineering report! "

"Manoeuvring has full power. All disrupter banks fully charged. Shields at 70% and rising, estimate 5 minutes to full power."

"You have four, Bridge out." Croder cut off the comm and took a final look around his bridge, savouring the sight of his crew at their stations, utterly devoted to the task at hand. This was what he had longed for his entire career. For years he had stewed and waited. Bitter that he had never been promoted, grudging the fact that he had never had a chance to prove himself in a real test. Well now the time had come and he was going to show those pansies in command how a true Imperial fleet captain acted.
"Brace yourselves gentlemen we're going in."

On the surface of the planet, a very different kind of officer stood staring at another display. The display showed groups of flashing lights moving towards Khrishnaar Prime in an englobement formation. He stared at the tacplot with reddened eyes consumed with Hatred. Theodore Elstric was a Justicar of the Church Militant. He had been given command of this taskforce and given the sacred duty of cleansing this planet of the filth that infested it using the holy engines of transmutation. Elstric hated those on the planet with every fibre of his being as he had secretly been taught to do his entire life. But that hatred was nothing compared to the white hot rage he felt at those he saw coming to prevent his holy work. The filth on the planet had at least been born the way they were. But these, for these supposed servants of Humanity to turn against their sacred purpose. For that there was no hell, dark, hot or painful enough to punish them for their betrayal. But nevertheless Elstric looked forward to sending as many of them to hell as possible.
He could see what they were doing. Their forces were splitting up to simultaneously assault the platforms. Under the circumstances it was a good tactic. He didn't not have sufficient forces to guard the platforms effectively against their attacks. But the lord was with him, and he knew something they did not.
He turned to an acolyte standing nearby.
"Ready the signal, the time approaches." The acolyte bowed and moved to obey.
Elstric turned back to the display, his face fixed in a terrible smile. Soon, it was almost time to unleash the vengeance of the lord on the blasphemers. "Target sighted, five minutes to firing range!" On the bridge of the BlackSword the silence was only broken by the hum of machinery and the regular reports of the bridge staff. They were all now focused on their tasks with a single mindedness that was almost inhuman. Years of training, of practising of waiting were about to come to an end. This was for real. Captain Croder stared at the plot in front of him. Directly ahead hung the transmutation platform designated Damocles 3. Flanking it like a pair of bristling guard dogs were two Starcruisiers, now crewed by either church militant or pure humanity fanatics. A sprinkling of defensive weapons platforms dotted space between the three main targets. Croder couldn't suppress a sneer as he looked at the formation. It just went to show, fanaticism was all very well, but he'd prefer professionalism every time. That formation looked good to someone who had never fought in space. The defenders had made a wall with their defences to protect the platform from attack. That might work on land, but space was a very different environment, and the third dimension it introduced offered all kinds of interesting possibilities. Learning to think in three dimensions was a key requirement for command personnel, an entire year at the academy was devoted to it and now Croder was going to demonstrate why.

"Captain, readings from the platform. They're powering up their systems. Estimate ten minutes before they are ready to fire."

"Plenty of time, order all ships to follow our lead but to hold their fire. We're going to.."

"Captain I'm getting an encoded transmition from the planet."

"Purpose?"

"Unknown, Sir it's heavily encrypted. Attempting to…"

"Captain! The Force shields just went offline!"

"What! Orders to all ships! All stop. Engineering report! Get those shields back up!"

"Sir, we can't! Its not a manual command, the AI's overriding the system!"

Croder growled, then he keyed his comm link and sent a query through the ships computer net. "Malthus report! Why have you shut down the shields?" Echoing silence answered his query. In his command chair Croder grimaced before trying a different tack. "Malthus, priority command override Omega, Delta Tango, Three, Three, Niner. Respond!" Finally a voice responded through the computer net, but this wasn't the rich baritone of the ships AI, it was cold, Harsh and artificial.
"Imperial Starship compromised, initialising Priority Omega directive, self destruct in process." In his command chair Captain Croder paled. Had they been looking many of his crew would have been astonished at this display of emotion on one whom then had secretly dubbed, Old Granite Face. As it was, his next action was so surprising they almost froze.

Croder's voice suddenly thundered through the all hands frequency, a definite note of urgency in it.
"All hands this is the captain! Initiate an immediate AI purge. I repeat purge the AI immediately!"

Across the ship crewmen momentarily froze. Shocked at the emotion in their captains normally deadpan voice. Then like the highly trained professionals they were they rushed to obey. With gratifying speed the task was accomplished. All imperial ships had an emergency procedure for purging the ships AI. A legacy from the time when the AI's of Shub were still the official enemies of the empire and a rogue AI was a very real possibility. Even though Shub was no one of humanities closest allies, old paranoia's die hard, especially in the Imperial fleet.

As the crew rushed to obey his command, Captain Croder put through an urgent call to the other units in the task force, informing them that they may have received an encoded self destruct order. Due to his fast actions, the majority of the ships were able to purge their AI's before the self destruct sequence could be completed. But for a few it was too late and the space above Khrishnaar prime was suddenly lit up with two newborn suns as the Glorious Heritage and Pride of Trangoon blew apart.

On the bridge of the BlackSword, every light suddenly went out before coming back up a moment later as the ships computers reset themselves. The bridge was suddenly full of hurried activity as staff threw themselves into their comm implants in a frantic effort to maintain the ships systems. In normal circumstances the ships AI was responsible for performing the thousands of operations each second that were required to keep a starship functioning. Now those functions were being performed by a human crew. It could be done, they had trained to operate under such emergency conditions, but it wasn't something anyone was comfortable with.

In his command chair Croder settled back slightly in relief. "Engineering, do we have shield control back yet?"

"Negative sir. A software lockout is still in place. We have all the power here, but we just can't divert it to the shield systems, something keeps bleeding it away. We're trying to isolate the problem." Croder nodded before turning and speaking to his XO.

"Izikiel, you have more experience with override commands and AI's than anyone else. Go down there and see if you can give them a hand."

"Aye, aye sir." The taciturn XO replied as he got up from his seat. As he made his way over to the bridge hatch the XO took a moment to nod his head at Tamorasp. To Tamorasp the message was clear. He was now the damage control officer for the ship. The thought did nothing to relieve his anxiety.

On the surface of the planet Theodore Elstric wiped the blood from his sword on the sleave of his blood red robe. In the background two monks militant could be seen dragging away the body of the unfortunate acolyte. Thanks the bumbling of that fool the command had been sent too soon, before the Blasphemers fleet was within range of his guns. Even worse only two had succumbed to the self destruct code sent to them, far fewer than had been expected. Still, it was not a total loss. Their shields were still crippled and without them they would not dare assault the fully functioning warships and defensive emplacements that now protected the platforms. Platforms that would soon be ready to fire. A brief smile played over Elstric's thin foam flecked lips. Perhaps it was an appropriate glimpse of hell for the blasphemers to suffer. To see those they had come to save die before their eyes as they stood helpless to prevent him. The thought amused him and soon his high mad cackle could be heard through the corridors of the command centre. On the BlackSword, Captain Croder glared at his communications officer.
"We're ordered to what!" The officer gulped but replied in a steady voice.
"Sir, the Flag orders that all ships remain out of weapons range until we can restore full function." "Is the Admiral aware that in less than six minutes those platforms are going to wipe out all life on that planet! The lives that it is our mission to protect!" "Sir the Flag has ordered that we stand down. He says, he says that we cannot risk unnecessary losses of military personnel."

Croder turned stone faced and glared at the view screen. Part of him saw the Admirals point. Force shields were the primary defence of any warship, the only thing that could stand up to concentrated volleys of disrupter cannon for any length of time. Without their shields it would be suicide for the fleet to attempt to continue with their mission. But to not attempt it would me the deaths of billions of innocent civilians. Civilians that as members of the imperial fleet they were sworn to protect with their lives. Croder had never considered himself to be an ideal captain. He had heard the gossip about how he was like a relic from LionStone's time. And part of him agreed with them. Part of him felt that he would have been more comfortable living in the old days. But although he may have been far from ideal in many ways, Ian Croder knew his duty better than anyone in the fleet.
He sat up suddenly and stared at the bridge crew. They were all looking at him, and in their eyes he saw their silent question. What would the captain do? He knew what his orders were, and he knew what his duty was. But would the crew see it in the same way? Only one way to find out.

"Manoeuvring."

"Yes sir?"

"Override the safety interlocks. Dump the excess power from the shield lines to the main engines. I want you to feed as much power to the propulsion systems as they can bear without exploding and I want you to send us straight at the primary target!"

Croder saw a tight fierce smile on the helmsman's face before he turned away.
"Aye aye Sir!"

"All hands, man your battle stations, prepare for Action!"

And throughout the bridge of the BlackSword Croder could head the sound of hurried activity as his crew rushed to fulfil his orders and follow his lead.
The captain sat back in his chair and smiled. They were going in.

On the bridge of the Dutiful Soldier Rear Admiral Mitchell Haynes frantically monitored the progress of his people. Hayes was a career fleet officer, of a good naval family. That and his ability to play the political game had ensured his steady rise to the ranks to the position he now held. But right now he would rather be anywhere else than where he was. In less than five minutes the platforms would fire, killing every living thing on Khrishnaar prime. And there was nothing he could do about it. The coded signal from the planet had knocked out the shields on every ship in the fleet. And without shields any attack mounted on the platforms would be in vain, and would only result in the deaths of those under his command. He knew that his career was over, but he could at least preserve the lives of as may fleet personnel as he could ensuring they were.. A sudden call from the tactical officer disturbed his thoughts.

"Admiral, the BlackSword is making an attack run at Damocles 3."

"What!" Haynes turned to the tactical plot. On it the bright icon that represented the BlackSword could be seen hurtling at its target at an incredible speed.

"Communications. Raise the BlackSword. Order that idiot Croder to pull back outside the range of their guns!" The communications officer nodded and bent his head to his panel. His head remained bowed for several seconds before it rose again.

"No response sir."

"Damned impertinence. Give me a direct line to the BlackSword!
Captain Croder this is Admiral Hayes, I order you to pull your ship back now. What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Suddenly a voice came back over the com link. "My duty, what you should have known to do."

Admiral Haynes was struck silent, very briefly. "How dare you. Croder, turn your ship around or I will have you Court Martialled, Do you hear me!"

But on the Tacplot the icon representing the BlackSword continued to accelerate. And suddenly it was not alone. Singly at first and then in greater and greater numbers ships began to break away and mimic Croder's mad charge at their targets. This time Admiral Haynes truly was struck speechless. Completely at a loss as to how to deal with the sudden mass mutiny among his command.

In his command post on the surface of the planet Theodore Elstric felt an almost sexual thrill as the timer continued to countdown towards zero. Soon the holy work would commence and this planet would be cleansed, and the Blasphemers were powerless to prevent it. They sat huddled in fear, afraid to come into the range of his.." "Justicar!" The call of an acolyte shattered his reverie. "You dare interrupt my meditations!" The acolyte shrank back bowing.
"Your pardon Justicar but we have detected one of the infidel's ships making what appears to be an attack run at one of the platforms."

Elstric frowned and turned to stare at the plot. Sure enough one of their ships was moving towards a platform at an incredible speed. Even as he watched others started to break away from the formation surrounding the planet to throw themselves at the platforms, like a swarm of angry insects suddenly brought to a frenzy.

"So some of them at least are warriors. It matters not! Without shields our holy warriors will swat them from the skies before they can harm the sacred platforms."

As Eldric watched the first icon passed the boarder that marked the maximum range of the defending ships and satellites. He smiled with anticipation at its coming destruction. The smile slowly turned to a frown of confusion.
"Why are they not firing?"

The acolyte huddled in fear. "J..J.. Justicar, they await your order, you have not given the command to engage, ack" A savage blow from Eldric sent the acolyte sprawling.

"Cretins!" roared the Justicar in rage. "Engage engage! Sweep them from the skies. They must not harm the sacred platforms!"

In orbit targeting sensors swept out locking on to their prey, as Disrupter turrets swivelled to bear. And space was suddenly filled with the brilliant discharge of disrupter beams.

Space around the BlackSword was filled with the deadly sparks of disrupter fire. Energy Disrupters had been the standard weapon of the empire for hundreds of years. There was a reason for this despite, their long recharge time (even the most advanced disrupters took at least a full minute to recharge between shots). And that reason was their sheer power. Energy disrupters did just that, they disrupted the molecular bonds that held matter together. No other form of focused weapon had yet been found that was as destructive as a disrupter blast. Only an intact energy shield could deflect a disrupter blast. Armour could only hold against it by being thick enough to absorb the entire blast, and it was destroyed in the process. This meant that the BlackSword could only receive a few such blasts before they started to destroy the internal systems of the ship.

The BlackSword suddenly shook as a disrupter bolt ploughed through its forward armour. In his command chair Captain Croder grinned tightly. "Looks like this pack of amaturers finally noticed us!"

Part of Tamorasp's mind was shocked at the levity in the captain's voice. But it was a very small part. Almost all of his attention was focused on the screen in front of him and the information now pouring in through his comm implant. He was the damage control officer on his ship, and he had a job to do.
"Forward, starboard armour down to 80%. Bulkheads are holding."

In his command chain Croder nodded briefly acknowledging the report.
"Good, but we can't take this for long. Manoeuvring, maintain speed but put us into a random corkscrew approach. All hands this is the captain, brace for extreme manoeuvring."

The BlackSword suddenly began to spin on its axis as it hurtled towards its target. Making quick random jinx's to the left and right, but always heading towards its main target. Croder knew that without shields his ship could not survive a slugging match with the defenders of the platforms. But all they had to do was survive to reach the platform. A starcruiser is normally a very large target, but thanks to its extreme speed and the random manoeuvres it was undertaking the crews of the starcruiser's and defensive satellites defending the platform were having trouble hitting it. It was only a matter of time though, and their task would only become easier the closer the BlackSword came. Slowly at first, but then with greater and greater frequency individual blasts found their target. The BlackSword bucked and heaved as the blasts struck home. Armour was shattered and vaporised, exposing the more vulnerable inner sections of the ship. The ships spin made it nearly impossible for the defenders to target specific sections, but they had such a weight of fire they almost didn't need to. Blasts started to penetrate the armour blasting through bulk heads and into the inner compartments. Crew in those compartments were vaporised instantly. They were the lucky ones. Fires spread from the damaged sections, igniting the ships oxygen and spreading through the ship, slowly killing the BlackSword. Tamorasp Naghanashar was one with his console. His every thought was focused on the task before him. Calling out damage reports, organising damage control teams, rerouting power from damaged sections and where necessary sealing and venting those sections to stop the fires from spreading. Had any part of his mind not been fully occupied with his task he may have been grateful, grateful that he did not have time to think of the people in those sections and the deaths he was condemning them to. But he didn't have time to think about that, he was far to busy trying to keep his ship alive.

Tamorasp's voice was a harsh croak as he yelled his report across the bridge. "Primary power is down to 70%. Sensors are down to 75% effectiveness. Port armour is breached in five places. Starboard armour in six. Forward armour is down to 5% with breaches in 8 places. We have lost sections 43 through 51, and 78 through 90. Compartments, 21, 11, 95 and 65 are open to space."

The bridge was filled with smoke from fried circuitry and burning plastics. Some of the crew members sported small cuts and injuries form where panels had shorted out. Captain Croder sat in his command chair looking like it was just another day.

"Report on status of disrupter banks!"

"Port bank down to a hundred and fifty active disrupter cannon. Starboard bank down to one twenty. Forward disrupters are offline."

Croder swore. A starcruiser of the BlackSword's class mounted five hundred disrupter cannons. Two hundred in each broadside bank and fifty mounted forward and aft. They were nearly at half strength in both broadside banks. They couldn't afford to lose many more.

"Tactical, status of target and range!"

"Target has almost completed powering up. Estimate two minutes before it fires .We are currently at long range. But the targeting computers are having difficulty locking on."

"Hold fire until I give the order, then prepare to fire a full broadside into the platform! Manoeuvring any available power we have dump it into the engines!"

"Sir they're already past the red line!"

"Then push them further, if we don't reach the target soon we're dead anyway."

Once more the BlackSword surged forward, exceeding its already considerable speed. Once more the defenders were forced to adjust their fire to compensate for the speed of their target. But there was an extra urgency to their actions now. The target was getting too close for comfort, soon it would pass them altogether. They had thrown everything they had at it but so far it had taken it all and just kept on coming. On board on of the screening starcruiser's the Church militant captain came to a decision and barked out orders to his crew.

On the BlackSword the tactical officer's voice could suddenly be heard ringing out above the whine of the abused engines.

"Captain! One of the screening starcruisers is breaking formation. They're placing themselves broadside on, directly between us and the target!"

"Tactical let me know the instant before they fire. Manoeuvring cut forward engines prepare for full vertical burn!"

"Sir disrupters have locked on us, he's about to fire a full broadside!"

"Vertical burn now!"

The whine of the engines suddenly rose to a scream as power was poured into the vertical thrusters. Just as the church militant ship began to fire the BlackSword suddenly shot upwards like a jack in a box. So sudden was the motion that the majority of the ships fire passed harmlessly below the BlackSword. As soon as it cleared the top of the enemy ship the BlackSword began to accelerate once again. Speeding towards its true target, the platform that now lay undefended before it.

But the church ship wasn't quite finished. As the BlackSword swept past it the captain opened fire with his other broadside. It was fired at point blank range. But the fire was sporadic and badly targeted. Instead of a single focused volley, a flurry of random shots flew out from the church ship, an inexperienced crew's jerky reaction to an unexpected order. That was all that saved the BlackSword.

Fifty disrupter blasts crashed home against the rear of the BlackSword. Only their unfocused aim and the as yet undamaged rear armour saved the ship from complete destruction. Nevertheless the damage was grievous. Explosions ripped through the rear of the ship. Tearing through compartments and ripping through the machinery at the heart of the ship, and striking the already abused main engines. They exploded. Pushed beyond endurance they were already unstable now they vented that fury. Only Tamorasp's quick reactions were able to save the ship. The moment he felt the disrupter bursts impact he acted on instinct. Cutting power to the engines and sealing the compartments without waiting for orders. As a result the explosion from the engines was largely vented to the rear compartments. Even so that explosion shattered the entire rear quarter of the ship.

The BlackSword bucked like a harpooned whale. Without engines it ceased to accelerate. But its own inertial kept it going and thrusters flared along the ship as the manoeuvring officer desperately tried to bring the ship back on course.

The bridge was a scene from hell. The room was filled with smoke. Half of it was now in the dark. Around the once impeccable room consoles were smashed and broken where power surges had caused blow outs. Some of those consoles were also splattered with blood and body parts of the crew that had manned those consoles. No medics were available to treat the crew, they were all too busy elsewhere. So the survivor's pushed away their dead and struggled to keep their ship going.

Captain Croder stood leading on the wreck of his command chair. Blood poured down his face from a shallow cut. The main view screen was gone, shattered into a million pieces, but the comms still worked, and Croder could use his comm. implants to access all the information he needed.

Through his implants he could see the platform before him. Through his sensors he could feel it powering up. It was almost ready to fire now. But so was he.

"Damage report!"

Tamorasp brushed blood out of his face and coughed to clear his throat.
"Engines are gone. Rear section is gone. Engineering is offline as is the main power plant. The secondary is at 70% and dropping. Remaining disrupters are fully charged, but we will only have enough for one shot. Sensor efficiency at 50%."

"Tactical, range to target?"

No response

"Tactical!"

"He's dead sir."

Croder cursed and activated the tactical net through his comm implant. There the platform loomed large ahead of them. A titanic cylinder, like an enormous gun pointed at the planet below it, which in effect it was. With another command Croder accessed the commands for the disrupter cannons. He could feel something like eagerness from the targeting AI's in the individual cannons. They longed to unleash their fury at the target. Well so did he. With another command he slaved them all to his control, locking them all to fire at a single point.

"Manoeuvring, bring us in on a close range pass!"

"We're down to thruster's sir. I don't know if I can…"

"Just try Goddamn it!"

The manoeuvring officer struggled to obey. In space, slowly slowly the BlackSword began to turn. The once proud starship was battered and torn. Its hull was a mess. Great trenches had been ploughed through it by disrupter beams. Fires raged along its surface. It was a wreck, but still it refused to die. A groan like the cry of pain of a wild animal echoed through the ship as already abused bulkheads protested the additional stress now put on them. But they held. And the BlackSword aligned its broadside to face its target.

Croder's entire attention was focused on the target. He had a hundred and twenty disrupter cannons left. Seventy in the port broadside and fifty in the starboard. That was less than a quarter of his original strength, and he only had enough for one shot. It would have to be enough. Finally they reached optimum range. The BlackSword was broadside on to its target, perfectly aligned. With a final target lock through the sensors Croder gave the command to fire. Seventy fully powered disrupter cannons fired as one. A wave of destructive energy flooded out of the BlackSword to strike against the platform like the fist of a God. Every beam was targeted at the projector at the base of the transmutation platform, their combined strength hit the force shields protecting it and caused a massive flaring of energy as the shields tried to deflect the focused force of the beams. They failed. With a flare of blinding light the force shields overloaded and failed. Croder grinned tightly as he barked another command.

"Manoeuvring 180 axil spin now!"

The BlackSword started to spin on its axis. Turning its now depleted port broadside away from the target and bringing its remaining starboard guns to bear. Over the ship artificial gravity faded in and out as the damaged antigravity generators struggled to cope. The crew grimly clung on to their work areas and ignored the nausea that went through them. Compared to what they had already gone through it was less than nothing. Croder could feel the energy flooding out of the platform as the starboard battery was brought to bear. The platform was almost ready to fire, but the technicians had to compensate for the power surge caused by the failure of the shields. Croder had no such problem. Fifty disrupter cannons barked as one. Their fire power was pitiful compared to the full power his ship had once been able to unleash. But it was enough.
The blast tore through the main projector of the platform. Destroying the focusing array for the massive power contained within. With no form of release the energy exploded through the damaged sections of the array. Explosions rippled through the array as the massive capacitators for the transmutation engine detonated. The detonations ripped the platform apart.

In the smoking bridge of the BlackSword, Ian Croder allowed himself a sigh of relief. Their mission was accomplished. Now they could… He didn't get a chance to finish the thought. The BlackSword suddenly rocked as disrupter blasts smashed home.

"Sir, the defending starcruiser's have opened fire on us!"

"Manoeuvring get us out of here!"

"I can't sir. Engines are gone, thrusters are all that's left. It's all I can do to stop us from falling into the planets gravity well."

The two Church militant starcruiser's closed in on the wreck of the BlackSword. They fired their disrupters in slow steady volleys. Blowing the ship apart piece by piece. They had failed in their duty. The transmutation engine was destroyed. Now all that was left for them was revenge. They focused on the BlackSword with the single-mindedness that only a fanatic can know. So focused were they that the first indication they had of the Imperial starcrusiers coming up behind them was when those ships started to pour fully charged disrupter broadsides against their rear shields.

The shock of the attack broke the focus of the Church ships. They shifted their attention from the BlackSword and started to target the interlopers. But their fire was deflected by intact force shields. The BlackSword's attack had bound the imperial forces time to isolate and override the Church's sabotage command. Now the two lead starcruiser's swept past the church ships to take up positions along side their wounded sister. Shielding her with their own shields as they towed her away from the battle. The remaining seven Starcruiser's of Taskforce Alpha 5 closed in on the church ships and began to extract their vengeance for the damage done to their sister.

On the bridge of the BlackSword Captain Croder got slowly to his feet. He coughed harshly to clear his throat before keying his comm. implant. When he spoke his voice was raw and harsh.

"Crew of the BlackSword. Platform Damocles 3 has been destroyed. The rest of task force Alpha 5 is engaging the remaining enemy units. The Reliant and the Gryphon are currently towing us away from the combat zone. Their crews will soon start sending over personnel to assist us in our repairs and in treating our wounded.
We have fulfilled our duty. We are Victorious."

At his station Tamorasp stared at the captain, then at the wreck of the bridge around him. Broken bodies of the crew littered the floor. Almost everyone was wounded to one degree or another and if anything the rest of the BlackSword was worse. Power on the reserve plant was barely holding steady at 50%. There were fires running uncontrolled through sections of the ship. The engines were gone. Over three quarters of the compartments were open to space. As for the crew of the original 1500 he would be surprised if half of them were still alive. Even if they were, many would be severely wounded. If this was victory, he would hate to see defeat. But in one thing at least the captain was right. They had stopped the platform, they had done their duty. Suddenly he remembered an old saying of his Grandfathers.
"Death is lighter that a feather. Duty is heavier than a mountain. (1)" He had never understood the meaning of that until now.

End of Part 1.
………………………………………………………………………………………

This chapter changed a fair bit while I was writing it. I initially just wanted to use it to cover Tams recovery from the battle and to show the crews reaction to what he did. Then I wanted to insert a little more about the DeathStalker universe to provide a bit more background as to where Tam came from and why he may think the way he does. Well a little became a lot, so much so that I finally decided to post this chapter in two separate parts. Part 2 will cover more of the crews reactions to Tam's injuries and miraculous recovery. It will also provide some more flashbacks from the Khrishnaar campaign.

Just to note, the Khrishnaar campaign and the events contained within are all made up by me. The institutions, the Imperial Fleet, the transmutation board, the Church militant and Pure Humanity as well as the weapons and technology are all taken from Simon R. Greens DeathStalker Novels, particularly the second series beginning with DeathStalker Legacy. For those that haven't read the books this wont mean much, but I thought it best to warn you that some of the content of the coming chapters may contain spoilers as to the main story.

Once again thank you to my readers, especially those of you who send me reviews.

As always comments and criticism can be sent to
Don't forget, if you don't tell me what I'm doing wrong or what you do/don't like I can never improve.

DarkBlade.

(1) I believe that this is an old Japanese saying or proverb but I am unaware of the source. If anyone knows could they please let me know?