Chapter 11
Knives in the Dark
Alois
25th June, 3023
The calm embrace of sleep eluded me as senses barely understood called me to wakefulness, the bed was rumpled and, to no particular surprise, Miranda was coiled with the majority of the sheets and blankets. It took a moment to realise that I was not woken by the sense she stole them and I was cold but something else. Alois was a nobody periphery world, and I hadn't been sure I even wanted to take the job here, but it had paid well and only called for the Hysteria to make the trip, keeping costs down while Markham secured our resource base back in the Inner Sphere.
Rolling out of bed, every combat sense screaming danger I clamped a hand over Miranda's mouth and shook her lightly. The look in her eyes went from sleepy, to slightly randy, to all business as she took in my expression. Heading over to the arms locker I popped the latch and tossed her a lasgun as I pulled on pants and a flak greatcoat. The Bolt pistol felt good in my hand as I put on the amulet of a refractor field, tossing its twin to Miranda, I was not about to take a small job on the Periphery without the best protection I had.
Which is why I also drew the blade from its scabbard, three feet long I kept it from being energised and giving anything away. Miranda dived at a console and checked the systems there, hissing in a low voice. "Something is attempting entry into the mech bays."
I nodded and headed into the hall, activating the refractor field. The faint haze surrounded me as the field energised and I moved quickly for the flight deck, before I came in sight of the door I saw the first of them, a pair of men in black uniforms carrying, Needler rifles.
They were about to break into the cabin Glitch was sleeping in, weapons at the ready when I came upon them, one turned too slowly and received the full length of the power sword through his chest as Miranda shot the other one in the head with her Lasgun. The gig was up and I strode purposefully towards the bridge, understanding how my mode of movement was like that of the Knight I was so often for battle that it informed by very choice of movements.
The door to the bridge hissed open and another figure in black stood there spraying at me with his blazer rifle, the beams of light were refracted by my personal field and I saw him recoil in surprise before a bolt from my bolt pistol found his stomach and blasted it, and all the surrounding paraphernalia, across the deckplates leaving him a few seconds to scrabble for them before expiring.
The combat alarums were now blaring at the sound of weapons discharge and I heard my people scrambling in their room for weapons and body armour. A spray of needles came through the door and struck my greatcoat, one of the needles punching into my midriff. "Sonofafucking bitch!"
I flicked on the power to the power sword and marched into the bridge, six men stood there, four with weapons and armour and two aerospace techs. I stood there for a moment as they looked, stunned. Lightning arced up and down the power blade as my Bolt Pistol roared twice slaying one of the security as I charged in. Miranda screamed as a spray of flechettes found her and I almost lost my head as the man i'd been charging brought his laser rifle around in a sweeping beam arc.
Unfortunately for him his armour offered far less resistance to a power sword than my greatcoat did against needles. Falling to the floor in two separate pieces a spray of crimson light struck out from Miranda's lasgun as she dropped. The man who'd wounded her was blasted practically into salsa as the maximum setting of the lasgun blasted pieces from him before fully cauterizing the wound.
The last of the security men turned to finish her off until he felt the press of the Bolt Pistol against his skull, the two techs cowering as Glitch charged into the room with an Laspistol in each hand. "Put down your weapon, or i'll blow a hole in her." The grunt said trying to save face.
I pulled the trigger.
There was no time for the bolt to arm. It was too close. But there was plenty of time for the exhaust of the round to boil the mans brain matter and over-pressure to pop the mans eyes from their sockets in a grotesquerie that threatened to have me heaving all over his rapidly falling corpse.
Instead, to take my eyes from the sight before I did vomit all over the place I turned on the two techs. "Are there any more?"
"J...just the crew trying to get the mechs." One of them responded.
"Shut up Jerome," The other snapped, "You think we are just going to roll over? That we didn't have backup!"
"No. But I think it's time I made a proper example," I said getting up in his face, "Who do you work for?"
Met only with silence I nodded, raising my power sword.
"I think it is time we re-brand," I said in passing as Miranda was seen to by Sumire as she tried to help her with a medkit, "We're no longer the Marauders," I grabbed the silent techs arm and slammed it down onto a table with one hand before severing the hand with the power sword, carving a neat line into it as I restrained the blow, "We are now the Black Templars. And let's build a nice little reputation off of those sort of relations."
The man screamed as his hand was parted from his body.
"To start with. We need a branding iron that says 'pirate'. Then we're going to crucify these raiders." I booted the screaming tech over the console as I moved over to Sumire and Miranda, "You ok love?"
"Crucifixion sounds good." She snarled through the pain.
"Please. Oh please gods no.... we were hired by a specops group through Comstar, ... they were supposed to quietly secure you all and we were supposed to get the ship to a jumpship at the L1 point..." The panicking talkative one said as the other continued screaming in agony.
Comstar. Or was this a job from our Capellan enemy?
"How. Many." I said marching up to him, blade level.
"There were two guys who were supposed to lock the crew quarters," or murder us apparently, "and the bridge crew. There are a couple techs trying to get the bay doors open, but last I heard they'd given up due to some strange encryption and they were getting some industrialmechs to open the doors."
"Sumire. Bring up all systems quickly, i'll take care of Miranda." I knelt down and began checking the wound, carefully continuing to clean the area, the spray of needles hadn't hit anything vital that I could see and her sharp intake of breath didn't sound obstructed or wet as I carefully disinfected the wound area.
"Your little field didn't stop them all." She said with a hiss as I touched a sensitive spot.
"No, the Refractor field isn't as reliable as our mechs fields," I said gently wiping away blood, "We'll get a doc to look at it, but it doesn't look too bad," Truth was, I only had the vaguest of concepts whether it was bad or not, and a cold terror set into my heart at the thought of losing her, "Don't you think about going and dying love, or i might have to do something drastic."
"Like suicide to follow me?" She chuckled, "Don't go doing that.
"Like giving Glitch the Knight Templar..."
"Ok. Don't die, got it loud and clear." She said wincing and trying to laugh at the same time. "You serious about the rebrand, if we paint ourselves as something religious it may hurt?" She said in a whisper.
"No and yes, I do plan on rebranding, but that was more to spook the jitterbug," I countered, as amusing as it would be to style ourselves as semi-religious fanatics, it wasn't practicable without hurting business, "But we do need to rebrand. The Raven Guard."
Miranda just shrugged with a grin that turned to a grimace of pain as I began putting on the bandage.
"We have four industrial-mechs advancing on the door for the Preceptor of Death!" Sumire said as the systems were brought online, looking up I saw them advancing on the door.
"Sorry Love, I have some more work to do." I said as Sumire came back and took over. "Glitch, it's time to go to work."
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Uh Oh.
"We lost contact with the boarding team boss, what the hell is going on?" One of the mech pilots said as he positioned himself opposite the target door, industrial cutters powering up slowly.
"I don't know and I don't like it, the Thuggees scare the shit out of me and they're the ones bankrolling this." The leader said as light spilled out of a crack, the mech door opening. "Looks like they finally got thei...."
The two technicians who'd been left to try and open the door were running like hell when something 'ducked' under the door frame and stood to full height. It stomped forwards and deliberately crushed the two techs underfoot, head turning to face the first industrialmech. The weapons in its 'armpits' rotated on small turrets and unleashed invisible beams of energy, the canopy of the unarmoured civilian mech melting like butter beneath the onslaught.
The leader turned his industrial mech when a second door cracked open and of all things an Atlas stepped out. Sprays of laser fire riddled the machine and he felt power die in it before a descending foot crushed the cockpit.
"Uhm, can I just surrender and not be murdered horribly?" One of the last two said as his partner began to backpedal in an attempt to fleet.
"No." Was the only response before a plasma blast ended his career.
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Warden's Rest
"So the job was a trap?" Darius said as he frowned at the recordings.
"Looked like it," I said as I watched Miranda sitting down gingerly, the flechettes had missed anything vital, but the wound was still painful and was healing well enough, if she would stop scratching at it occasionally, "the job stank to begin with but this was unexpected. Our security boys were assassinated in cold blood, and if I hadn't had the cold willies, the rest of us would have been too." I frowned examining nothing in particular as I thought back on it.
"They came far far too close to getting us down there, and it doesn't help that we don't know who the hell did it, either it was the asshole in Capellan space that doesn't like us, or it's ComStar. And given they were trying to breach entry into the Preceptor's bay first, I just don't know." I resisted the urge to throw the datapad in my hand across the room.
"ComStar facilitates any 'legitimate' mercenary mission, including grudge-settling, without favour," Darius said with concern, "But you're right. This got way too close, on a middle of nowhere world where they could have dumped your bodies and nobody would know the wiser. We need patronage."
There were various scoffs around the table. "Look, if we have the support of someone like the Eridani Light Horse, Kell Hounds or Wolf's Dragoons, we just might be considered untouchable enough to send goddamned assassination attempts after!"
I stood up. "No. While they are perfectly respectable groups I'm not going to tie our fortunes to them. They're all worth respect, but the Dragoons are busy in Combine space and I don't expect that to end well, the Kell Hounds are at the wrong end of space and the Light Horse are, as far as I know, tied up in a contract on Hoff." I wasn't about to spill that sometime soon, if not already, the ELH and Dragoons were snotting each other on Hoff.
I sat down, "Which brings up the next possible point of problem."
Darius looked confused. The others did as well. I sighed. "If our attacker was the Capellan Confederation, then the Big MAC and Northwind Highlanders are both big companies and both under exclusive contracts to the CCAF. Eventually our enemy is going to decide that sneaky crap doesn't work, and just hire a full blown regiment or two to drop on our heads." Realisation ticked on. "I know I have brought power to the table, but do any of us thing we could actually fight off a full regiment? The Big MAC's 1st Regiment is 3 Battalions on its own, and they've got 5 more regiments to call on at least. The Highlanders have several regiments of their own as well."
"Shit." Miranda said.
"We sign up with a larger group and we get a measure of prote..." Darius was cut off when I raised a hand to do so.
"No, we lose our autonomy, and with our technology, probably get shoved at every nut in the 'too-hard' basket." I leaned back, "Fact is we are a very small fish in a big pond. And it's time we both became a bigger fish, and pick our work more carefully while we build a power base worthy of the name."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Lotara said next to Sumire who nodded, the two got along well.
"Territory, factories, resources, money, power... all the usual methods." I said calling up a file on the projector. "Markham has managed to, miraculously, secure a Star Lord class Jumpship for us as well as other resources. Using four of it's big cargo bays he's set up factories to my specifications and, according to the last transmission, is on its way to us.... yes Trotter?" I said as the big man stood up.
"Two things my lord," The formal tone of the meeting had dictated that he adopt the more subservient manner, and he knew it grated on me, "The first is, we've picked up a signal with the cogitators corresponding to one of the larger coffin-ships. I have just put the corresponding data into the computer for you to scrutinise, the second is.."
He paused and I felt a great curiosity.
"I don't have the team or equipment to produce the other Knights, but I believe I can manufacture Armigers with the right equipment, i've been working on these for a while now, and I am sure that ship will have some of what we need." He said with a wry grin.
I meanwhile was less sure. "How can you be so sure it has what's necessary?"
"According to the cogitators receiving signal it's the Knighthold, it was carrying the Styrix and three Armigers with a support suite." His voice betrayed there was a problem.
"And?"
"Half of the personnel on it have perished, the personnel section suffered some sort of strike," This time his expression broke and I saw how hard he'd been trying to hold it together, "Including my daughter Samandra."
"Ah shit, sorry Trotter." I stood up, "Meeting adjourned, let's see if we can reach the Knighthold."
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TDR-9393
The Knighthold was in a condition that was barely worth calling a spaceship. Mostly because it had ceased to be ship, or spaceworthy. The moon it was crashed on was barely capable of supporting life and as our dropships descended on the site I saw that the personnel section had largely been crushed in the crash. "Gods above." Sumire said as she looked at the wreck. "How positively gothic..."
I didn't even deign to answer, because it honestly was. I also recognised the signs of a salvagers camp, struggling to pack up before our arrival, the cargo hold was sealed and they hadn't gotten it open at least, but several of the smaller weapon emplacements had already been stripped for parts and an agri-mech was carting off a fair sized plate of hull.
Out speakers blared our claims to the site as the scavengers ran, the sight of a Union and Leopard coming in discouraging anyone from objecting particularly vocally. "Vandires oath!" Trotter said and I winced at the phrase, it didn't have exactly the same connotations it used to, but it was still regarded as vile language.
Lotara put a hand on my shoulder to get my attention and I turned. "Should I do something about people running away with the salvage?" She nodded towards the weapons crew.
"As much as I want to say yes, we don't have any sort of contract here and I'd rather not have people asking why we murdered a bunch of yokels seemingly for sport." I fought down every instinct that told me to exterminate the 'ants' running around down below before they made off with technology I had every intention of marketing and capitalizing on.
Instead I allowed them to flee, praying to the Omnissiah that they didn't take anything compromising.
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Behemoth
The ship was positively baroque. In the most literal sense, Gothic architecture, looming gargoyles, the symbology on display was practically intimidating. But finding the cargo doors still secure had calmed down Warden and his people immeasurably, the crew section seeming to be the only compromised section, "Open it," Warden said as Trotter moved up to the vast doors.
The going was slow as he connected and began praying to the machines spirit, this one was more complex than those i'd been taught to pilot a knight. But finally the slab-sided doors began to descend and I heard a simple 'Throne...' muttered by Kane, he was grinning from ear to ear as a small machine stepped forwards and its weapons aimed at us.
"Whoever the fuck you are! Get b..." The voice was female and came from the machine... "Pa?"
Over the next half hour we learned that Trotter's daughter hadn't perished at all, but her stasis pod had been damaged and she'd been alone for a quarter of a year, surviving off of the ships rations as she got no sleep due to scavengers trying to tear their way into the Knighthold, finally worried enough that they might succeed she'd donned a Helm Mechanicum, a poor imitation of the Throne Mechanicum made for the Armigers.
And yet that was not the only surprise, the manifest didn't list the eight Leman Russ pattern vehicles in there. These were tanks produced on his homeworld and were bizarre machines, four were what he called Vanquishers, two were Executioners and the last were just called 'Destroyer Tank Hunters'. They all looked mean and ready to go at a moments notice.
Moving around I looked at the new Knight, it wasn't like the Templar, or the Preceptor. Everything about it was subtly different. And in some ways, not so subtle. "Why is it so different?" I asked as I walked around it, Trotter checking the diagnostics panel, "and why didn't Samandra use it?"
"Samandra lacks the implants to pilot using a Throne Mechanicum, just using the Helm Mechanicum was dangerous for her without proper training, which she's going to need now she made the connection." He said covering the easier question, "There were a number of Knight models build, and experimentation on something called a Titan but I wasn't privy to that. The Templar and Preceptor are very similar in pattern, and are probably the most powerful overall. The Styrix here, she was different." He moved around her, "Several weapons options, for main there is a Lightning Cannon or Volkite Chierovile, for the secondary weapon there is the Hekaton Siege Claw or Chainfist. Tertiaries are graviton guns and rad-cleansers."
I turned in disbelief. "As in radiation cleanser." Trotter nodded.
"This was built not to deal with its contemporaries, but lesser machines and especially infantry detachments. The Chierovile is virtually useless against enemy armoured units, and something the size of a mech isn't going to be overly bothered by the graviton gun, phased-plasma fusil or rad cleanser." He shuddered. "I don't particularly like this pattern, and the politics on our world that forced and needed its creation. I don't know what Warden is going to do, but I believe he plans on Dekker piloting it."
I was surprised at that, the machine even looked evil. "Are you sure about that, what about Glitch? Seems more her cup of tea."
"Warden plans on Dekker piloting it, Glitch is going to pilot the Cerastus when we find it. A more close combat oriented machine with less... politically indelicate... weapons." Trotter sat down on an upturned crate. "I suspect he's going to order me to rip out the rad-cleanser, it's the only one that is probably 'illegal'."
"You think he'll order you to destroy them?" I asked cocking my head and wincing at the pain as I pulled the healing wound.
"Not a chance. He'll hold on to them for when he feels something really deserves it." Trotter shut down the cogitator and stood up. "Ok, teams, I want everything of value stripped, the support equipment has priority after the war material, after that, strip the ships systems, including her drives if we can!" He began calling out, "Mechteks, follow the directions of the Sacristans, they know what to take and how to do so without angering the machine spirits."
Yang grinned as he came over, "You heard him, this is their tech, so play nice and don't screw up!"
I stood up, it was time to find Kane.
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Behemoth found me in the ships chapel, a red leatherbound dataslate in hand. Embossed with the half-skull, half machine sigil of the Church Mechanicus. The coffin-ship wasn't made for long use, and its machine spirit was quiescent, and likely had been since the crash, and yet still I was drawn to it like a moth to flame. She didn't say anything, simply sitting in one of the pews, recognising the place for the chapel it was. Not that such an association was hard to make.
"Half the crew actually did perish, including the Captain and ships engineers, only the fact the Sacristan and Enginseer stasis devices were closer to the cargo bay saved them. And yet Trotter tells me its a miracle as much survived as it has. Unfortunately, it's not all good news." I leaned back.
"What's the problem?" Miranda asked tucking her hair back amongst her implants. The techno-dreadlocks suited her.
"We received a message from Markham, Lycomb-Davion Introtech were raided by some corporate types, plans for fabricating the gravity plating were stolen, some people murdered, but whoever did it got away clean. At least that's what his message says, the hidden binary cipher in the message header ID'd the thieves." I passed over a smaller dataslate.
"Comstar?!, are they aware of the connection to us?" She asked with a half-tone of panic.
"Far as we can tell no, they stole technical plans only, and attempted to destroy it while they were at it." I said, "But they noticed the tech being distributed and acted fast to secure it."
"Which is going to cut not just into our royalties, but also mean that we need to protect our tech base further. Somewhere away from prying eyes." She said considering the situation.
I waved off that part. "That is somewhat handled, the Star Lord will do that nicely. But for our product? I want a separate ship to actually move the it. I don't want people to connect our primary Jumpship with a production hub. Sooner or later ComStar is going to come knocking trying to work out where the new tech is coming from. And I want a buffer between us."
"You know, we could talk to the leaders of this rock, convince them to deed this place. Us the ship as the basis for a proper home base?"
I paused, looking at her, "You know what, you're absolutely right