Chapter 8

November 13th, 2241: Narn-Centauri Buffer Zone, Ardun system

Between the border of the Narn Regime and the Centauri Republic lie many empty and lifeless worlds. Some are the remnants of Centauri mining or agro pursuits. Some few had primitive life, but by far the vast majority had no life beyond the microscopic stage. Scientists of many species have been unable to determine why the swath is so lifeless, especially in a galaxy so ripe with life everywhere else.

In nearly the center of the Buffer Zone is the Ardun system. There is only one planet in the system, a small, dusty, unattractive world orbiting an ancient red giant star. Ardun had no indigenous life when it was discovered and surveyed by the Centauri. It had a thin atmosphere, and no tectonic activity. Its planetary crust was comprised of an iron-rich ore that gave it a red appearance. One of the initial surveyors described having the red sunlight strike the red dust made the whole of the planet look as if, "...it was covered in dried blood." It proved a prophetic statement.

Minor House Oltovan was the first to exploit Ardun. They had paid the initial survey team and thus reaped the spoils. They began extracting deposits of the rare Quantium 40, without which hyperspace travel could not occur. After a few years the rather meager deposits of the Quantium 40 were depleted, but in a coup of backroom dealing, House Oltovan was able to pass off Ardun to House Pharon by convincing them more deposits of Quantium 40 were available, but were too dangerous to extract without slave labor, and House Oltovan was without the means to purchase a large slave workforce. House Pharon felt it got the deal, and was outraged and embarrassed to have been so fooled. But as they had already purchased large numbers of slaves, they tried to make the best of a bad situation and begin mining whatever they could while plotting House Oltovan's demise (something they were able to accomplish in just under twenty-five years).

House Pharon mined out vast amounts of virdanium, a relatively common ore used mainly for ion engine shielding. At the time, most of the Centauri fleet, as well as all of their subject races used one form of ion engine or another, and Ardun became profitable again. However, virdanium was common throughout the Republic, and only the centralized location of Ardun, and the vast slave labor force made mining it profitable.

Time passed, and the march of technology continued unchecked. Eventually most Centauri ships gave up ion power for the more advanced gravitic propulsion systems. Once the upgrade to gravitic drives was complete across the Republic, the bottom fell out of the virdanium market. House Pharon continued to eke out a small profit from the Ardun mines by mainly selling to new customers outside the Centauri Republic. In the aftermath of the Narn Uprising, Earth (sometimes know as Terra) was their main customer, at least until the Terrans learned how to extract and refine their own sources of virdanium.

House Pharon continued to mine on Ardun after the Uprising began, and right up until its very end with the final retreat out of the Buffer Zone. By that point most of the Narn slaves had simply refused to leave their pens to work, and the House Pharon guards were afraid to kill anymore, least they rise in violence. House Pharon abandoned Ardun when they were warned by the Centauri Fleet that rebel Narn ships were only hours away. The Centauri of House Pharon simply packed up and fled, leaving just over one hundred thousand Narn slaves in the underground complex (Ardun had a toxic atmosphere, and the entire mine complex was in sealed underground facilities rather than domes).

But as always with Narn-Centauri relations, 'simple' is not necessarily what it seems. Once all of the Centauri personnel were safely off Ardun, and the former Narn slaves were celebrating the soon-to-arrive liberation ships, Lord Anton Pharon ordered a mass driver strike against the mine complex. For nearly three hours the House Pharon cruisers poured mass driver fire into Ardun. The mines collapsed, killing every Narn on the planet. As Ardun had no tectonic activity, there had been no need to strengthen the underground complex against earthquakes. However, even had the cave-ins not slain the former Narn slaves, the bombardment broke the seals that contained the livable atmosphere. Those that did not perish in the collapse certainly died choking on the thin toxic atmosphere of Ardun.

When the Narn liberation ships arrived they found a vast tomb. They wailed in grief while growling in anger and hatred at what the Centauri had done. There was no effort made to extract the dead. Ardun became a monument for the Narn, a vast piece of hallowed ground.

But the Centauri were unwilling to relinquish their claims to the planet. Though the Centauri would not occupy Ardun, they did not want the Narn having it either. Far too many jump routes went from Ardun to various places, even to the interior of the Republic. The Centauri feared (and rightfully so) that someday the Narn might use Ardun as a staging ground for invasion.

And now, for almost two generations, the Narn and the Centauri have been fighting over Ardun. It has been covered in blood many times over, including that of House Pharon. Not long after House Pharon's return to Centauri Prime, Old Emperor Peraini flew into a rage at their conduct. He had been hard at work securing the goodwill of the Abbai and Hyach to mediate a ceasefire with the other races trying to capitalize on the Narn Uprising. After the atrocity Lord Pharon had committed, the Abbai and Hyach withdrew their diplomats and left the Centauri to hang on their own.

Old Emperor Peraini eventually ordered House Pharon proscribed, their assets seized, the House dissolved, and many of their sons executed. In the end he left only two sons: Entrian, a boy of six, and the other an unnamed newborn (his mother was pregnant at the time of the retreat from Ardun). To save what remained of his family, the boy Entrian had to challenge his own mother's family to the Marrago: the honor duel to the death. Amid many tears, his own maternal grandfather, Count Wastun Tyrcos, killed Entrian Pharon the ring, and was thereby legally able to absorb into his House the last son of the late House Pharon, his newborn grandson Desdinova Tyrcos.

Lord Jentavus Roglark stood on the bridge of the battlecruiser Antharcus. The deck plates under his feet trembled slightly as she fired at the Narn cruiser again. The target was an older T'Loth-class cruiser, and though it was stoutly built it finally came apart under the Centauri barrage. Lord Roglark glanced away from the tactical and saw the old Narn cruiser drifting away, trailing wreckage and flames in nearly equal measure. On its present course it was falling into the gravity well of Ardun. Even now its remaining hull plating was beginning to glow as it fell into the upper atmosphere of the planet. "No survivors there," Lord Roglark thought.

He turned away from the tactical display. Captain Rantison Arrado was standing behind the navigator's station. The Captain's Roglark-blue duty uniform was partially covered by his body armor. He wore a sword a bit longer than the traditional koltari on one hip, and carried a custom-made ion pistol on the other. Lord Roglark knew the pistol was altered to compensate for the loss of three fingers on Captain Arrado's hand. He had lost the fingers as a destroyer captain when the Narn had boarded his ship.

The Antharcus had no Admiral's Chair, and Captain Arrado insisted Lord Roglark use the captain's chair whenever he was on the bridge. Not that there was much chance to sit this battle. The Narn were hitting hard and heavy, the main thrust of the attack was upon them.

"Bring her around the other T'Loth so it can't hit us with its heavy weapons," Captain Arrado ordered. The Antharcus slid to port of the remaining Narn cruiser firing as she went. The already damaged Narn crumpled inward as she succumbed to the fire. Lord Roglark saw the other three Primus battlecruisers in their squadron fly into formation.

Some distance away, two squadrons of the ghastly Narn Dag'Kar bombardment ships were deployed with four more of the antique T'Loth cruisers. They were not yet close enough to fire off their energy mines at Lord Roglark's squadron. But that would change in the next couple of minutes, unless something was done about it. "Comms!" Lord Roglark barked.

"Aye sir!" The Comms Officer winced and said, "I'm sorry my Lord."

The crew of the Antharcus was unused to serving with him on board, and kept using 'sir' rather than 'my Lord'. Lord Roglark waved away the apology saying, "Contact Captain Michelas of the Valerius. Give him the coordinates of that large group of Dag'Kars." He smiled a quick savage grin and added, "Let him know it is time to spring the trap."

The Comms Officer relayed the message, and moments later a jump point opened just beyond the Dag'Kars. Out of its scintillating blue depths flew over forty flights of Centauri fighters. The crescent-shaped fighters swarmed over the Dag'Kars, some skimming just over the surface of the hull. Though their cruiser escorts were heavily armed, those antique Narn cruisers had no anti-fighter capability. It proved to be the Dag'Kars undoing.

The weapons of the Centauri fighters pounded the fragile hulls of the Dag'Kars. Never meant to be in direct combat, the Narn bombardment ships quickly succumbed to the fusillade. Some of the hapless Narn ships had no less than thirty individual fighters targeting them. In less than a minute the Centauri fighters had reduced the Dag'Kars to just so much burning wreckage. The mass of Centauri fighters was so zealous in their attack that two of the Dag'Kars exploded. It proved suicidal for while the wavefront from the explosions damaged the remaining Dag'Kars, it destroyed several of the fighters as well.

Lord Roglark made a mental note to issue new training procedures for fighter pilots while working in large groups. This method of mass waves of fighters destroying warships was relatively new to the Centauri. In truth it was not even his idea: Lord Roglark had seized on the attack style after studying battle recordings and reports from Earth Force during the Dilgar War. Like their Terran friends had learned a decade earlier, the Centauri pilots needed to grasp the subtleties of not destroying themselves while killing the enemy.

"My Lord a jump point is opening!" the navigator shouted.

"Where away?" Captain Arrado asked.

"At two-seven-one sir," the navigator replied. That was directly off the starboard bow of the Antharcus.

A sparkling blue jump point opened, and out of it came a pair of frigates, one older cruiser, and the hulking arrowhead shape of a Bin'Tak-class dreadnought. The Bin'Tak dreadnought was the Narn answer to the Centauri Octurion battleship. They were very new in Narn service, and Lord Roglark had never actually faced one, though he had studied the stolen schematics at length and watched battle recordings of the two that had fought at Quadrant 17. It had all of the makings of a formidable ship, if handled properly.

The jump point did not close, leaving him to believe more was to come from hyperspace shortly. The Narns were certainly not about to disappoint him: four more ships arrived; three of the older Rongoth destroyers, and a second Bin'Tak dreadnought. The four Narn cruisers that had been escorting the now-dead Dag'Kars also began to close with Lord Roglark's squadron.

Lord Roglark hesitated only a moment, calculating the forces bearing down on Antharcus and her three sister ships. He leaned over the Comms Officer and spoke into the pick-up to the Valerius, "Captain Michelas, Antharcus actual here." Lord Roglark inhaled deeply, knowing what he had to do. "Captain, I need you to use the jump point you opened for the fighters and intercept those Narn cruisers. You need to hold them off long enough for us to deal with the dreadnoughts." Lord Roglark knew he might be ordering Captain Michelas and the entire crew of the Valerius to their deaths.

Captain Michelas' voice came out of the speaker, "I understand my Lord. We shall engage the enemy cruisers and once we finish them off, assist the command squadron with the dreadnoughts." Lord Roglark smiled at the Captain's bravado. Valerius and her crew were a Republican Reserve ship. Though Republican units were often looked down upon, Lord Roglark had learned from experience that Republican units fought bravely and well. Their lack of stature and prestige was often merely a matter of lack of patronage. Imperial Guard and exemplary House units usually garnered the headlines, along with the best equipment. Lord Roglark had long felt the Republican units were a wasted resource, one that many of his more prejudiced and pretentious colleagues were loath to use in any meaningful way. Nearly every Republican unit under his command, once they had gone through a more exacting training regimen, had fought skillfully, bravely, and professionally, often outperforming other allied House units.

Lord Roglark backed up from the Comms station as Captain Arrado stepped over. "My Lord," he said, "Some support for Valerius?"

Lord Roglark could detect no rebuke in Captain Arrado's request. He nodded sharply and said, "Captain, I would be obliged if you would tell the captains of..." he glanced up at the tactical screen, " Duanez and Septus to break off and assist Valerius." "Its only two Vorchans" Lord Roglark thought, "but anything would help."

"Navigator," Lord Roglark said, "Bring us about to target the rear dreadnought. Comms, signal the squadron to do the same." The navigator acknowledged the order as the Comms Officer relayed instructions to the rest of the squadron. A moment later Lord Roglark felt the gravitic engines of the Antharcus shift her heading, her sister ships following suit.

The vast flank of a Narn dreadnought appeared in the viewscreen. It was painted in the newer Narn 'dazzle' style; a dark red background with alternating random black geometric shapes outlined in white. Fire from all four Centauri cruisers lanced out at the rear Narn dreadnought. Bolts and beams of blue, orange, and red momentarily obscured the dreadnought amidships.

When the glare had reduced enough to see the ship, it was a shambles. The Narn return fire from their flank was feeble at best. "Just like always with the Narn," Lord Roglark thought, "Too much reliance on the huge boresight laser." The standard Narn tactical doctrine called for a straight charge ahead with little maneuver, hence the heavy boresighted laser cannon with much weaker side armament. The only problem with such a doctrine was that often the Narn were unable to perform such finely tuned evolutions as boresighting their ships. Lord Roglark, (indeed all Centauri commanders) had been able to capitalize on this Narn predicament.

The dreadnought's escorting destroyers gave their fire, but the Rongoth destroyer was much like the Thentus frigate: over a generation old and not really brought up to present standards of weaponry, speed, and armor. Lord Roglark and Captain Arrado watched as two of them exploded. Long-range lasers from one of the Centauri destroyer squadrons had annihilated two of the Rongoths. Their explosions damaged nearly every Narn ship that had just come from hyperspace.

Lord Roglark addressed the Comms Officer, "My compliments to Commander Wallof, tell him 'well done' on the destruction of those Rongoths". The Comms Officer transmitted to Commander Wallof, the senior captain in the destroyer squadron. "Also tell him to detach half his squadron. They are to come about and assist Valerius while the rest stay here and assist us with the dreadnoughts."

Valerius and her two Vorchans were valiantly delaying the four Narn T'Loth cruisersfrom entering the main battle. Lord Roglark saw one of the Narn cruisershad stopped, either by design or damage. The Valerius spat out a mass driver sphere that crashed through the motionless Narn cruiser, causing it to explode. It was a desperate and brave move. The explosion wavefront engulfed the other Narn cruisers yet Valerius was untouched, though Duanez was caught in the outer edge.

Though Valerius was giving far better than she got, it was clear she couldn't hold out for much longer. Commander Wallof's destroyers weren't quite in range yet, and now both Duanez and Septus were burning hulks.

Lord Roglark was on the verge of ordering the remainder of Commander Wallof's squadron to assist, when abruptly the final hideous surprise of this long day revealed itself. Out of the sparkling depths of the still open jump point came the last guest to the party: the hulking menace of a third Bin'Tak dreadnought. Lord Roglark's stomach dropped as he heard Captain Arrado growl, "Great Maker! How many of those things do they have?" This last dreadnought appeared fresh from some shipyard. The blood-red sunlight gleamed off the unpainted hull of the Narn dreadnought. Large welded patches were scattered across its surface, giving it a rough look.

Though it looked like it was fresh off the assembly line, its crew was competent. They were able to complete the difficult maneuver of boresighting one of Lord Roglark's squadron, the battlecruiser Untavo. The titanic crimson laser blasted out scoring deeply into the hull. The laser fire was closely followed by the mag gun. The mag gun was a relatively new Narn weapon. Lord Roglark and Captain Arrado had only seen it used in battle recordings. A coherent beam of white tinged with purple lanced out at Untavo. When the beam contacted the Untavo, it broke into white tendrils that danced and writhed across her hull. Everywhere the deadly web touched, the armor was peeled back in long streaks. The dreadnought was close enough to even add fire from their weaker secondary armaments.

Untavo listed to starboard, unable to withstand the prodigious amount of fire from the Narn dreadnought. Most of her running lights went out though her drives did not. Lord Roglark quickly looked at the scanners: Untavo was stricken, doomed to drift off until Ardun's gravity sucked her in to a final immolation. Yet there were still life signs from nearly one hundred surviving crewmen. "If we are victorious," Lord Roglark thought, "we can rescue them." Should they not be, Lord Roglark knew that it would be a kindness to kill them rather than leave them to the tender mercies of the Narn.

"Bastards!" Captain Arrado barked out. Lord Roglark looked up to the viewscreen to see what elicited the outburst. He just caught the final glorious seconds of Valerius as she finally succumbed to the long odds against her. Fires burned on every deck. Long black gouges scarred her Republican paint scheme. One last T'Loth was still firing, the others destroyed. Abruptly Valerius exploded. As her final act the explosion engulfed her last attacker, causing the Narn to explode as well. Lord Roglark saw Captain Arrado make the sign of the Great maker across his face, his lips moving in silent prayer for the doomed crew of the Valerius.

"Comms," Lord Roglark said, "order Commander Wallof's squadron to come about again and assist us with the dreadnoughts, recall the Vorchan hunting groups. Signal all ships: those that can disengage return to assist the Command squadron with the Narn dreadnoughts." Across the entire battlefield Centauri ships streaked away from their current action. Two Vorchans arced over the pole of Ardun as a third came from behind the Narn dreadnoughts with two Elutarian bombardment destroyers following. Commander Wallof's squadron of Sullust-class destroyers had completed their evolution, swinging around to assist the Command Squadron.

The unfinished Bin'Tak was trying to slew around to get her boresighted guns into play on Antharcus. She nearly did it but the cumbersome ship wasn't quite able to get around far enough. Neither of the other two dreadnoughts even came close. "Still," thought Lord Roglark, "those awful mag guns don't need a boresight."

Lord Roglark spoke again, "Order Wesper and Jalingus closer and have them use their sensors for enhanced targeting." The graceful fan-winged shapes of two Centauri scouts edged closer to the Narn dreadnoughts. The scouts would focus their powerful sensors onto the Narn ships, then feed extremely precise targeting information to the other Centauri ships. It was sometimes a dangerous tactic as the scouts had to close the range before this ability could be used, exposing the fragile scouts to more intense gunfire.

"Have them target both the unfinished and already damaged Bin'Taks," Lord Roglark ordered. The scouts promptly began to feed the Centauri fleet with the enhanced targeting information. The fire control computers of all of the Centauri ships firing at either of the two dreadnoughts in question were now linked to the powerful sensors of the scouts, hopefully increasing the accuracy of the guns.

"Command Squadron and the Elutarians on the unfinished Bin'Tak," Lord Roglark said, "All other ships fire as you bear, either dreadnought as necessary."

Lord Roglark turned to Captain Arrado, grinning viciously "Captain, I want to put that dreadnought in the ground."

Captain Arrado snapped a quick Imperial-style salute and bowed from the waist, "As you command my Lord!" He straightened with an eyebrow arched upward questioningly.

Lord Roglark nodded sharply saying, "Please give the order Captain."

Captain Arrado smiled at the honor he was being given, "Command Squadron: all guns... FIRE!"

Antharcus shuddered as she fired all her guns, her two remaining sister ships following suit. First were the brilliant scarlet beams of the battle lasers. Smaller weapons than their Narn or Earth Force counterparts, the Centauri had exchanged throughput for precision and accuracy. While Centauri lasers often did less brute damage, the damage they did cause was often more intense, cutting deeper into the vital systems contained within the enemy's hull. The Centauri had also accepted the lesser damage and shorter range of smaller lasers to gain a larger firing arc. No Centauri ship currently in service was hampered with any type of boresight.

Next were the orange bolts of the matter cannons. Though they were an ancient technology by current standards, the Centauri had perfected the charged particle system over a century ago. Matter cannons could often completely obliterate lighter targets and usually damaged even the extremely hardened hulls of the first rank capital ships as well.

Last, and certainly not least, were the blue bolts of the ion cannons. Another ancient technology, yet one that no other race used with such casual and brutal efficiency. All Centauri warships carried battery upon battery of the accurate shorter ranged ion cannons, often overwhelming enemies by their sheer volume. Not as long ranged as the battle lasers, not as penetrative as the matter cannons, still it was usually the ion cannons that carried the day. The Narn version, even the ones carried by the Cascor were only vastly inferior cousins. Neither the pulse cannons of the Earth Force nor the particle arrays of the Abbai could compare.

All of these smashed into the unfinished Bin'Tak dreadnought. Its unpainted hull was ripped apart by the Centauri guns, flames jetting from every jagged hole. The scouts proved their worth as the targeting information they provided allowed the guns to do more damage, crippling the unpainted Narn dreadnought.

It returned fire. The white beam of the mag gun lanced out at Antharcus, touching and writhing across the hull. Lord Roglark watched as the tendrils spread, a momentary memory of a Terran predator flitting across his mind. He was too preoccupied to remember its name, but he did remember that the predator made elaborate webs to catch prey. The display from the Narn mag gun reminded him of the images of the webs he had seen. Thankfully the mag gun blast was weaker than the one that had stricken Untavo. "They must have lost some of the power to the gun," Lord Roglark thought. The light Narn ion cannons reached out and crashed into Antharcus, adding a pittance of extra damage.

The Elutarian bombardment destroyers fired, their ion cannon bolts smashing into the unfinished dreadnought. The bolts were quickly followed by a full spread of the lozenge-shaped white-hot ion torpedoes. The torpedoes impacted into the starboard side as a cheer broke out across the bridge. The cheer turned into a roaring victory shout as the Narn dreadnought abruptly exploded. The wavefront spread out, hitting several other Narn ships. Both frigates were engulfed, as was the final destroyer. Even the T'Loth cruiser and the damaged dreadnought took some of the explosion.

The remaining Narn and Centauri warships opened fire almost simultaneously. Ion bolts, mag gun blasts, and matter cannon fire crisscrossed over the void. The damaged Narn dreadnought quickly became a burning wrecked hulk and then exploded just as had the unfinished one. The blast turned both Narn frigates and the remaining Rongoth destroyer into lifeless shells. The last Narn cruiser took massive damage from the explosion and floated off adrift, vainly trying to regain control.

Lord Roglark looked on aghast as the remaining Narn dreadnought vaporized one Vorchan, firing a rear boresighted heavy laser cannon. The Centauri warship had had the poor luck to accidentally line itself up for the Narn. Lord Roglark made a mental note to include this unknown capability of the Narn Bin'Tak dreadnought. A rear-firing laser had not been on the captured plans Lord Roglark had studied, nor had one been used at the Massacre of Quadrant 17. The remaining fire from the Narn ships was feeble at best, most of it doing no more than scorching the paint on the Centauri battlecruisers.

The final guns to speak were those of Commander Wallof's squadron. The long scarlet lances of their battle lasers carved deep gashes in the last Narn dreadnought even as their ion cannons blasted away large chunks of the hull. The precision of the Centauri lasers and fusillade of ion cannons proved fatal as they cut and burned into vital systems, setting off catastrophic internal explosions. A cascade of internal failures took place, one of which vented most of the atmosphere of the Narn ship, another destroying much of the reactor shielding, flooding the ship with more radiation than even Narns could withstand. The double failures resulted in the death of much of the crew.

Once the guns were silent, what remained was a badly damaged dreadnought flying off towards the gravity well of Ardun without enough crew to prevent its demise. "Another grave marker for the Narn," Lord Roglark thought. The dreadnought would quickly be captured by Ardun's gravity and pulled to the surface in a final fiery death. The last T'Loth cruiser could be taken care of at leisure: with no engine power it could simply be pounded to death from a safe range by mass drivers.

It seemed a signal went out as the last Narn dreadnought went offline. Every remaining Narn ship that was able began to flee, either into hyperspace or deeper into the Ardun system. A loud victory cheer started as Captain Arrado stepped up to Lord Roglark and asked, "My Lord, shall I give orders to pursue those retreating?"

Lord Roglark thought a moment before replying, "Yes Captain. Instruct any and all ships to pursue the fleeing Narn and force their surrender or destroy them." Every Centauri in the fleet knew that no Narn would willingly surrender, they would rather accept death. He gave a vicious grin and said, "Make sure we leave none behind."

Several Centauri ships streaked after the retreating Narn ships. Some of the crews were treating it like a hunt, giving chase to wounded prey. Many of the Narn warships were destroyed even before they got out of sight of Ardun. The final two ships, a pair of old Thentus frigates, were run down and destroyed by the escorts from the Carrier Group accompanied by the last flights of fighters.

"Captain if you would please order shuttles to get the survivors from Untavo." He paused to consider something then continued, "And have those Elutarians take her in tow before she drifts into the atmosphere." Within minutes shuttles could be seen flying to the stricken Untavo and grappling on to rescue the remaining crew.

Lord Roglark sat down in the captain's chair. He considered calling up detailed status reports of the ships under his command, but immediately dismissed the idea. It would be a while before the final butcher's bill was known. He should be elated, and though he was happy the Narn had been defeated, his exhaustion had caught up with him. He had slept less than four hours in the last two days. But he could not sleep, at least not until the survivors had been rescued from Untavo and the other stricken warships.

His musing was interrupted by the most glorious sound. Captain Arrado had begun to sing. The whole of the bridge crew had become silent at the first notes. It took only a moment for Lord Roglark to recognize the ancient song. It was "Lo, A Star Is Falling", a song sung for lost comrades-in-arms. Captain Arrado used Captain Michelas' given name, Donetan, at the proper place in the lyrics to remember the fallen.

Lord Roglark was left quite speechless. He knew Captain Arrado could sing, but had no idea he had such a tremendous voice. Some of the bridge crew had tears on their faces, captured by their own memories of lost friends and the simple unaccompanied glory of Captain Rantison Arrado's voice.

Captain Arrado had finished the final verse. As he began the final refrain he raised his hands to the bridge crew inviting them to join. A chorus of voices joined the captain for the well-known refrain, Lord Roglark's among them. As the final words rang out, it seemed to Lord Roglark that thousands, millions of voices sang, all of the Centauri soldatii that had lost a comrade since they took ship to fight the Xon.

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