"We've been spotted," renegade Navigator Ven Tristan said calmly, standing at the open helm of the infamous Ebon Hare, the hidden eye of the Ghoul Stars. The smooth skinned mutant opened his eyes, and turned around to face the rest of his crew. "I sense that someone in their crew has placed their eye upon us. Time to go. Surprised you couldn't sense it, Rusad." The Navigator gave the old blind man seated nearby playful nudge, but no one was upset. None of this bothered Tristan. He was nearing his second century, and had survived a thousand things that should have killed him. He was the oldest member of the crew on this ship, and second in command; his many years and experience made him invaluable. His sardonic wit and dry humor made any needling remarks he would throw around inoffensive.
"You heard 'em, Gage, Laryn," the tall man wearing the tricorn hat said, twirling his short pointed beard with his metal hand. A strong, tanned woman in an old Imperial-style flight suit, and a thin young man wearing colorful leathers turned back to their consoles, directing their ship to the Mandeville point in preparation for departure. "We're done here. Thank you, Tristan. Everyone, set course for the liaison at Tar Vigaz. Enter Warp when capable. Rusad, let's try again with your astrotelepathy. See if you can listen in on any mention on bounties for giant gold eagles, and if any of our friends are in the area. Tell them that we also found a mess of those Necron things where our other quarry should have been. Demia, Yur-Shulk, get the engines prepared for departure."
A com crackled to life on the bridge. "Roger that, Captain," a gruff voice replied as the ship began to thrum with energy. The two engine rats went to work.
The elderly white-haired astropath nodded, and straightened his back in his chair while closing his blind eyes. Taking a deep breath, he placed one of his ancient hands against his head, and projected his will outward, only to be greeted by a wall of noise. "Captain, there is still a wall of interference ahead. It has not yet dissipated. In fact, it seems to be worse. I cannot push through."
"That's still going on?" Captain Rhul said with a sigh. "Do we know what's causing it yet?"
"The edge of the new broadening Warp infraction to the southeast is causing perturbations in space time. We remain blind to any relays."
"Irritating," the colorful captain said, pulling at his short ponytail, which hung over his fine red cloak. He gripped the finely crafted powersword that hung on his hip, subconsciously anticipating conflict. "But, a little challenge now and again is good for the soul, is it not, my friends? Do we at least know if that pretty bird is armed, or is it just for show? Actually, do we even have confirmation that it can fly at all?"
"No confirmation of flight from our contract, but they suggested that it was fully Warp capable. I see here two to four cannons under its wings, unknown make," Gage said, not turning around from his console, which gave him a high aerial view of their quarry. His distinctive colorful leathers had been custom tailored from an old gaudy cloak his mother and father had given him before he had left home three months ago. At 20, he was the youngest of this merry band, and a talented pilot when in realspace, trained by his Rogue Trader brother from a young age on how to handle a starship. Gage had been set to inherit the family charter until his brother's wife had recently given birth, which shut him out from the glory he had anticipated. "It appears to be preparing for flight. It is spreading its wings, but I'm not sure."
The captain pursed his lips. "As curious as I am on how that gold contraption moves, I'm more interested to see how much gold moves through my fingers when we deliver our information. But, I confess that this eagle thing is mighty fascinating."
Tristan walked up behind Rhul, and slapped him playfully on his back as he spoke to the pilots. The Navigator regarded his fully human crewmen, adjusting the red bandana covering his warp eye. "Pity about the other lead on the renegade space marines being false, eh Rhul? Finding those miserable wretches would've given us a great bonus."
Captain Rhul bit the inside of his lip, and took a short glass filled with amasec from an attending servitor who had appeared at his side. It was time for a celebratory toast to another job well done. "You know, I can't help but be suspicious that the planet we were led to had Necrons of all things. We'll have to have a talk with our liaison about the disclosure of job hazards, but hey, at least the lead on the gold bird was good, right? Well, whatever. We'll be long gone by the time anyone down there know which way is up, so no harm no foul. This'll definitely make the Sinclairs happy," the captain responded, basking in his own sense of adventure. His toothy grin flashed after drinking his liquor.
Kornelius Rhul was the ostentatious captain of the Ebon Hare, a clever little ship of famed speed and an expeditious eye. The Hare had been repurposed from the guts of a few space hulks that had managed to survive multiple trips through the region of the Hadex Anomaly, far to the south. Its design was an experimental masterwork of speed and maneuverability. Rhul had placed a down payment on the craft, and promptly skipped town during a test flight. While the Hare's engines had a tendency to heat too quickly, it was never really a problem, as by the time they even began to burn hot, they were long gone from any pursuant. They were simply that fast.
Using his charisma, Rhul had gathered a crew from many different independent worlds from his various adventures. The captain valued his freedom, and remained staunchly independent in his motivations, not strict on what job he was hired for. Truth be told, he could afford to be. The Ebon Hare now had a reputation in the region as one of the fastest ships in the sky. Its effectiveness at spotting and running was unmatched, even in a place with no Astronomicon. Rhul's primary employers were shadowy figures operating in the area of Tar Vigaz, a frontier world with a reputation as colorful as his. From time to time, the powerful Sinclair family would contact them directly, but usually, all their dealings were handled between anonymous go-betweens. They did not ask his business, and he did not ask theirs. As long as he and his crew were paid, he was content.
The Ebon Hare's Navigator, Ven Tristan, had been discovered on a derelict ship while desperately low on air. His Imperial courier vessel had run afoul of a pack of marauding xenos, who had killed everyone but him. Captain Rhul had rescued him, and had signed on instantly. Tristan, as they discovered, was uniquely talented. The renegade Navigator's ability to calculate complex equations, and plot blind Warp jumps was nearly unparalleled, and Rhul was grateful for his service aboard. They joked that after his brush with death, that he had "one foot in the Warp" at all times. Rhul just hoped the Imperium didn't notice that Tristan had essentially faked his own death by not reporting in that he was alive, but he'd deal with that when the time came.
"Ten minutes to jump, minimum time. The eagle isn't even airborne yet. Hasn't moved aside from stomping some xenos and moving its wings. We'll probably be long gone before it even breaks atmosphere, if it can even fly," Laryn informed the crew, scratching the back of her scarred neck and short crew cut. The other pilot was a deserter from an Imperial Guard regiment that had been tasked with fighting Tyranids somewhere in Ultramar. After Rhul had met her at a tavern, she had told them all a grand story of her origins. She claimed that she had been devoured by a giant Tyranid, only to cut her way out of its stomach before promptly stealing a shuttle off the doomed world. It was a miracle that she escaped at all, if her story was to be believed. Whatever its truth, she had proven her worth in both piloting and combat, which made her valuable. Her rough personality also made her entertaining, which she demonstrated by saying, "Yeah, better get inside your little cage, baldy. You need a bath. You stink like a grox in heat," to Tristan. She pointed a finger and crinkled her nose at the Navigator. Beside her, Gage laughed heartily. The young man sniffed at the air and made a similarly grossed out expression. The Navigator really needed a bath!
Tristan made a face painted with fake outrage as he also took a small glass of liquor that had been offered by the servitor. "Ouch, oof, I'm hurt! You'd better be nice to me, normies, or I'll open the door next time I'm taking a swim in the Ocean. I swear you people are meaner than daemons!" The Navigator laughed, and opened the door to the vestibule at the helm. "Remember to lock yourselves up, children. I've got a feeling that we're in for another rough ride!" He shut the door.
Rusad, the astropath, reached across his seat and immediately buckled himself up. The old man never took any chances if he could help it. In his previous life, he had been a sanctioned astropath that had worked with the Imperium aboard a Rogue Trader vessel in the Ultima Segmentum, and had been unceremoniously left behind on a backwater planet in the middle of nowhere after a misunderstanding he refused to talk about. All everyone saw was that Rusad was always very attentive, perhaps overly so, concerning safety.
Rhul walked up and latched the vestibule door shut from the outside, and within, another click could be heard coming from Tristan sealing his own lock. Better to be safe than sorry. From there, the salty Navigator would be able to plot their course through the Warp as they sped along with the aid of the two pilots and two engineers as they attended to the ship's more conventional operations.
Their "engine rats", as they were often called, were two disaffected Imperial ratings they had randomly found at a party in the Underhive of Necromunda some years ago. Demia and Yur-Shulk had both become very skilled workers, and (by their words) invaluable to the ships they served upon. They were a husband and wife pair, both exhibiting personalities of hardened rockcrete. Both were satisfied with being mostly sequestered away from the rest of the crew, and as long as their paychecks kept up, they were loyal. Like Laryn, it had been discovered that the two had deserted the Imperium after years of faithful service. They had worked to keep the Warp engines of the ships they had been assigned to in good shape. They had been promised promotions during their time serving on a warship for years, but when none had come, the two had vanished into the crowd of a Hive World during a rare planetary leave, never to be seen by their former employers ever again. While both were difficult to be around, their expertise in Warp engine maintenance was valuable, and their well-traveled familiarity with the galaxy exceeded everyone else's on the Ebon Hare.
Rhul placed more wax on his moustache, bending it into fresh curls as he watched the servitor pour more glasses of amasec for the rest of his crew. "So, anyone have any plans for Tar Vigaz? I want to stay for longer than a few days this time," the captain said as he walked back up to Laryn and Gage, who sat next to their consoles, waiting for their signal to leave. The servitor made its way to the seated pilots, and offered them glasses of amasec in a metal claw, which they took. The two pilots both swiveled around in their seats to speak with their captain.
"Mmm, we'll have a lot from this job, right?" Gage said, sipping his drink instead of downing it in one go. Rhul nodded eagerly, drinking another glass of liquor.
"Seven million in Vigaz script promised, and I hear that the younger Justinian is having another party soon. I can pull a few strings and get us passes. Since I'm dashing and handsome, and I'm, ahem, well-acquainted with Lady Langwidere now, I'll get us in. She'll make our visit worthwhile. And you know, I've been thinking that we all deserve a vacation. Cut loose, you know. What happens in Vigaz stays in Vigaz, as they say!"
"You just want to get laid, Korny," Laryn said, laughing as she motioned for the servitor to pour her another drink, which it did.
"Well, of course I want to get laid, but I also love gold and parties, and you all enjoy that too, right?"
"Ah, to be young again," Rusad said, shaking his head wistfully. Gage smiled awkwardly, and dropped his eyes.
Laryn noticed Gage's flustered expression, and said, "Aww, cheer up, baby bear. We'll find you a good woman. Don't worry so much about it. You're just nervous. You're on one of the best merc ships in the galaxy now. The unbeatable Ebon Hare! The ladies will come flocking soon once they know. I know they did with me! I've got a hole in every port. I'm sure that I'd even have Langwidere for myself if she swung that way!" Laryn laughed salaciously, which caused poor Gage to blush.
Rhul couldn't help but laugh. He loved his little family of miscreants. They were better than his old family back on Terra, which he was estranged from. Old rich codgers never had any fun. Blazing around the wild parts of the galaxy on the fastest ship around was more his style. Their little vessel was fast and small enough to evade nearly everything, even the creditors that came knocking. They held respect and power now in this wild frontier. Imperial patrols were few and far between, and the other ships didn't seem to want to chase them, so their existence seemed charmed, nothing grim or dark about it. There existed just enough danger to spice the flavor of adventure, and the wealth kept coming in.
There was no end in sight to his awesome life, he thought, and he was still in his 40s. He could look forward to a few hundred more years of adventure considering the rejuv treatments he could now afford. Life was good, and he smiled. It just didn't get any better than this.
Behind where Gage and Laryn teased each other, a red light began to blink. He didn't even know what that meant. Rhul wasn't a pilot, so he continued to laugh with his crew. Yes, life was good.
It was as if fate had truly blessed him, really.
"Evasive maneuvers! Torpedo volley incoming, underside port bow!" the voice of the Navigator suddenly yelled into the cabin from a speaker, and at the last minute, Gage swung back to the ship controls, and pitched the ship violently to the side, causing nearly everyone to topple over.
"On screen, threat location!" Laryn yelled, now covered in amasec. Rhul had fallen violently, and his head had struck the side of the ship's armature, where he fell immediately unconscious to the floor. A mark of blood left an imprint on a ceramite strut above where the captain lay.
The screen before the two pilots and their consoles flickered, and what they saw terrified them. Below them, a giant shining eagle of gold rose at a blistering pace, three eyes blazing blue-green as they fixed upon them. Three glowing plasma torpedoes soared over them and away, a dangerous near miss. Both Gage and Laryn screamed in horror. The aggressive ship turned as it closed the distance, and angled itself in a way that its sharp talons were visible, which reached for the Ebon Hare as it charged them!
Gage ignored the fact that he had urinated himself, and wrestled control of the Hare, pulling the ship into a fast dive, and causing the reaching talons of the eagle to miss them by a mere hand's length. The adrenaline pumping through his body was causing him to shake uncontrollably. "Tristan! Can we get to Warp right now? Don't know how but that eagle is right on us!" he shouted as Laryn frantically began to arm their weapons while barking orders to the engine crew. Gage watched in terror as the gold ship soared around them, causing a shadow to fall across the vessel and its open bridge. "Shit! Close shutters!" the young pilot yelled, flicking a switch. The shutters on the bridge closed with a clang.
"My heart, ah!" Rusad protested from his chair, but no one was listening.
"Yup. Looks like we gotta go to Warp early, bud. Don't like doing that, but we got no choice. I'm ready!" Tristan spoke up from the sealed vestibule. Some indeterminate clicking sounds echoed through the speaker. "Gellar field operational! Initiate Warp drive! Everyone alright back there? Told y'all to buckle up!"
"We're alright here! Light-Breaker engines online! What's going on up there?!" someone from the engine room asked through a distorted com. A swear was overheard, and a prayer to something that wasn't the Emperor.
Everyone answered in the affirmative with the exception of Captain Rhul who was bleeding from a head wound on the floor, and the astropath Rusad, who gasped as he clutched his chest.
"Initiating Warp drive, get ready! Light-breaker engines enabled! Emperor be damned, that fucking thing isn't going to catch us!" Tristan swore angrily into the ship.
The last thing before their screens went dark in preparation for a Warp jump was the terrible figure of the eagle ship as it wheeled around for another pass, its claws outstretched and ready to tear them to pieces!