IVANOSTRO ASTEROID FIELD

ILMNOS, IALESSA SYSTEM

NOVEMBER 14th, 2188

THE SCARWEAVERS LIMPED BACK.

The SIC of the Angelus Jescha felt a cold fury spike up her spine. Behind her a tech relayed their report. The Lord Commander entered the bridge as the tech began and the SIC felt that timing suspicious.

"Scarweavers squadron report mission completion. Five captives. One blind-rad tube detonated as a diversion." The SIC hooked her hands behind her back, doing her best to remain calm. A rad tube? They were running away! "They report …casualties. Four orb vessels lost."

"The mettle of faithless mercenaries and common heroes tested," the Lord Commander intoned. "Why were there losses?"

The SIC turned, her stance steady, hands clasped behind her back. The Lord Commander admired her self-control.

"As I said, my Scarweavers are little better than fledges, Lord. They were not prepared. They did not know the capabilities of their prey and could not anticipate…"

"This is your explanation?" His cloak shushed across the floor behind him. For a reason she could not explain to herself, she found the sound unsettling.

"It is a simple fact. Captives were ordered," the SIC said, grateful her voice came out strong, more grateful for her helmet's filters. "Captives achieved. Losses are inconsequential."

"It is a simple excuse," he corrected. "Fledges or not, they should know their function. They were against an inferior outnumbered enemy with antiquated technology and yet they failed. A blind-rad tube is an act of desperation. Are not their actions your actions? Do you cast this failure at my feet?"

The SIC hesitated. She had been given direct command of the sortie. Despite the initial order from the Commander, she was the only one responsible for the squadron's performance. He had relinquished Oversight command of the Scarweavers. Her responsibility. Her new squadron humiliated. She sensed …deliberation. Anything she did other than accept responsibility would look precisely like shirking.

"No, Lord. I merely reiterate that my Scarweavers were sent into an action out of their depth. Failure of technique was both inevitable and expected. Yet the spirit of the action was achieved."

The Lord Commander seemed to stare at her for too long a moment. The only sound on the bridge was of Angelus Jescha itself.

"The captives are to be treated well," he said at last. "Isolate each from the other. They are not to be spoken to by any but myself. If any are mortally injured, they are to be humanely put down."

SIC relayed the orders, burning with indignation. 'Mortally injured' was a veiled accusation at the possibility of further failure, nor would she have the right to question them herself. When finished she turned back to him and waited. He watched the disposition of the remaining Scarweavers and their captives. The few minutes it took felt very long. New silence settled.

"You are demoted a full rank," he told her in the silence and it took all her self-control not to react. "You will remain SIC." Behind her faceplate she frowned. A full rank, yet still Second? Some instinct warned her that there was something else at play here, something she couldn't see, yet the Commander's demeanour was not hostile. Unseen her fingers twitched with the desire to pull her weapon and she shook off the impulse as childish, it almost shocking in its outrageousness. It was a demotion but not. No longer Captain but still Captain.

This was not right.

Something has to be done, some instinct whispered. Tomorrow will be far, far too late. This is simply not right.

She did nothing.

"Stand by to remove us from this asteroid field and prepare to return to the Stagings," the Commander ordered. Around him personnel sprang to obey. The SIC turned to stare at him. The Lord Commander's mandate was not finished. They were not to return to the Stagings until ordered so by the Lord Remnant Himself. As the Lord Commander turned, she began issuing departure orders as per her duty. She was missing something here, something important….

In her confusion, the Commander knew he'd caught her, his suspicions now confirmed. His original Captain promoted by the Lord Remnant's Holy Martial Council. 'This replacement comes recommended' he was told, but she was no Captain. Any real Ship Captain would never have made such excuses.

Remnant Watchdog. Eyes on the Corrupted. Now he had her.

Any competent Ship Captain would have argued vehemently for her Squadron and been perfectly correct in doing so. His order had been precipitous and unsound. The Scarweavers had no choice but to fail, yet he praised them in his own mind for managing as much as they had. Any competent Ship Captain would have argued equally vociferously against a 'demotion not a demotion'. Again, that would have been absolutely correct. Yet she stayed silent and obeyed anyway out of fear of discovery. Which had simply led to her discovery.

The Lord Commander saw her stance change and knew her thoughts. Yes, he'd ordered a return to the Stagings outside his mandate, her muteness further evidence to him. There should have been opposition, yet there was only acquiescence and silence.

Now he had to decide what to do with her.

He had indeed ordered the Angelus Jescha to return but he never said just when they were to arrive.

The Lie was wide and deep.

Anything could happen…