The Black

The Smooth Hiss of Automation Slipped into his consciousness as Magnarus awoke into the familiar purgatory of comfortable boredom. The Vorath Officer pushed past the familiar shame of his situation, feeding his hate for his captors. They held no honor. They refused to Torture him properly, refused to allow him to die, and refused to kill him. His perception of time was a slow marching haze of questions and comfortable confinement. Their paradox of Strength of body and weakness of will was born in the evidence of every filling meal, every acquiescence, every caring for his every need. He had made the mistake once, assuming their nurturing tendencies made them weak. That day, the single escape attempt he had made had been met with dispassionate yet explosive force. The Delmar contingent of his captors had been relatively easy to overpower, and he had incapacitated three before these… ‘humans’ made it to him. The first Human security guard had rounded the corner and shrugged off the singular punch Mangarus had managed to connect. He had been picked up bodily and thrown as if he were a child fighting a warrior, and the Human ‘security guard’ had preceded to mercilessly pound him into submission with blows that felt more akin to being struck by a landslide of stone than a fist. The Human had broken his jaw that day, cracked three ribs, and dislocated his shoulder without breaking a sweat. To Magnarus’ surprise, this paradox of a species had healed him, only to return him to his own internal torture of monotonous questions and eternal listlessness.

“Up, you know the drill” The familiar voice of the Human Security guard that had bested him growled as Magnarus slowly rose from his simple cot. This human was named “John”, and his entire being screamed at Magnarus for an excuse to continue the beatdown of their only other physical encounter. The Towering Vorath refused the implicit challenge, standing slowly and allowing himself to be ‘cuffed’ before departing towards the interrogation room. John plodded heavily along behind him, boots clanking rhythmically on the flooring behind Magnarus as the two of them walked the familiar corridors.

“Next Left” rumbled the human behind him, and Magnarus paused before turning down a different hall towards a new set of doors. The doors slid aside smoothly and Magnarus stepped into a conference room of some kind, being met by two immaculately dressed human officers and a behemoth of a Human male wearing a strange mottled uniform pattern. A warrior’s air seethed from this being as Magnarus studied him head to toe. His gaze came to rest on the Dagger emblazoned with the insignia of one of the great Houses of Voralus as it rode on the Humans Hip, and Magnarus snapped his gaze back to the being face as recognition flooded his mind. He had watched this Human take a mortal blow during the final ambush that failed to save his ship, and a savage snarling smile slowly spread across this human’s face as he recognized Magnarus’ attentions.

“That does not belong to you, human” Magnarus’ low rage growled out the words before he could control himself, but he managed to keep himself from lunging at the warrior in front of him.

The titan of a Human simply continued his calm smile full of teeth but said nothing. Magnarus turned his attention to the officers across the table, “What is this. Have you finally found the fortitude to do what must be done.”

“Commander Magnarus, I see you have been well taken care of.” The first Human officer stated. She bore short white hair atop an ageing, yet toweringly formidable figure. The Razor’s edge of experience bore its teeth from behind her Arctic gaze. “No, we will not be executing you today. I simply do not wish to sign off on the ammunition expenditure. Tell me, If I were to wish to contact your fleet commanders. How would I go about doing that.”

A low rumbling laugh rippled through Magnarus’ as he heard her inquiry, “You would not be answered. Prove your worth, and you may be spared death; but that is only after capture. Has the Invasion started? Has Legaris begun his revenge?”

“Who is Legaris?” A second officer asked. This one did not bare the towering stature or bulk of the female or the warrior, but his eyes marked him as kin to the female. “Is he the one responsible for the failure of your attack on this world?”

“Ah, so I am still on Delmar proper. Good, I look forward to watching it burn. Legaris escaped your Atomic Holocaust. You have waisted your precious radioactive materials, Your secrets are now known to the Vorath, and we shall crush you soon enough.” Magnarus snarled.

The male simply smirked and said nothing. Magnarus glared at him for but a moment more before turning to the female again, “How much time do you have. I cannot fathom it long if you wish to plead so early.”

“Long enough. We do not wish to beg this Legaris for mercy, we wish to negotiate an…. Exchange…” The white-haired female spoke cooly, completely unphased by the Vorath before her. “Unless you do not wish to return to your people.”

Magnarus’ eyes narrowed as he contemplated, “Why would you offer this…”

“Does it matter?” The female asked cooly, “Can you do it, or does your cell call to you.”

Magnarus glared at the woman but could not deny that this was the first truly interesting thing to happen to him in the eternity of languish he had endured since his capture. “It can be done, but It will be ignored… unless…” ‘I must take my chance’ Magnarus slowly allowed himself to hope, “I will have to send the message.” He carefully kept his face neutral. “If you want to get a response, this is how.”

The two human officers glanced almost imperceptibly at each other before the Female returned her gaze to Magnarus, “We will be in touch”.

“Up, slowly.” John growled before escorting the Vorath back to his cell. The two officers and the Warrior merely watched him be led away.

__________________________________________________________________________

Cory stepped foot onto his new command for the first time, stepping out of the shuttle’s airlock onto the TRN-APT-08872. The ship was a paradox of function and aggression. She reminded him of a much smaller Celest with square flanks and space-centric design. The similarities ended there as Cory realized that her outer hull was both 4 times as thick, and designed to laugh in the face of the type of fire that would have felled a Unity Brigantine in moments. Her prow was aggressively angular, designed to induce glancing blows from incoming fire as she charged surface weapons to deliver her payload of men and materiel.

Today, She was recommissioned anew. Her purpose was born upon her flanks, Keel, and Dorsal spine. Cory had requested hybrid armament. And His Command bore a Ventrally mounted PAC in a limited Arc’d turret that sat almost flush with her hull. Her Dorsal spine bristles with a single Twin RM1005. Her Flanks bore small bulges on them, Telltale signs of a pair of Anti-Ship Missile tubes installed on each side. Cory had chosen her point defenses to be energy-based, allowing for more capacity for ammunition, Medical supplies, and equipment. Considering His command did not need weapons banks, Cory had requested, and had approved, 4 twin Shipgrade laser arrays on each of her sides, belly, and back. She was designed to punch hard and run. Cory had seen that her 5 aft mounted main drives were augmented by a pair of swivel mounted Engine pods fitted to her aft quarter. Compared to her previous life, “ole72” as her ferry crew called her, was almost comically over-engined, and over-gunned.

Cory didn’t bother going to the bridge, This vessel had an observation deck on her dorsal section, but her command center was deep in her core, behind layers of Armor. According to Mac he was “in for a treat”, but his brother-in-law refused to elaborate. Instead, he headed straight for engineering. His feet clacked softly under his uniform/Voidsuit boots as he followed the signage toward his destination.

“Cory!!!” a familiar female voice rang out as Camorra bounded over with a smile and a very human hug, Patrick sauntered up, following Camorra with an amused look on his face.

“It's Good to see you, Captain.” Patrick smiled, reaching for Cory’s hand as Camorra released him. “Come to see the Progress?”

Cory was still uneasy about such a young pairing going on this dangerous mission, but Camorra had been… persuasive. Cory had been forced to bow to cultural precedent, and the fact that the two of them already understood the Human fusion Cores that was currently being installed onboard. “Indeed, I hear that you are having trouble not blowing out circuits.” He walked over to the reinforced pod that the Core resided in. This was his final request regarding the ship design. Celestial Traveler had received a Human fusion Core just before her ill-fated season. Her new heart had survived the atrocities done to her body, and had received new purpose. Celest’s Core was much smaller in size than the original core from num72, but almost 3 times the power output due to her “next generation” design that bore the best of both Humanities power production, and Delmar energy efficiency. The core was the reason that Cory could justify the PAC he had chosen as his main forward armament. He reached out and laid his hand lightly on the casing, feeling the gentle vibrations of his ships pulse.

“We used to, The last of the upgraded conduits were installed this morning. We should be tuned and ready for sea trials by the end of the week.” Cammy responded, “Red’s got the core purrin’ like a “kitten” whatever that means. But the numbers are stable.”

“Good. The rest of your section should be here momentarily, I’m sure you will get along we..” Cory paused as the doors to engineering slid open.

“BIG IRON! Tha fuck you think you’re doin’ without us!!” Bellowed the first of the two Humans that entered the engineering room. Cory raised an eyebrow, noting a few Delmar crewmen peeking in at the aggression present in the voice speaking.

“Marcus! Lewis! What the hell?” Patrick got out just before being almost tackled by the two humans who had been with him that fateful day in engineering, “Why!”

“We heard you were getting’ into some Gangster shit, and We weren’t about to let our favorite Carrot Top go it alone.” Marcus hooked an arm around Patrick’s neck and began rubbing a playful fist into Patricks hair. The two wrestled for a second before Marcus released Patrick.

“Hey Cam, you here to keep this lanky asshole in check?” Lewis teased as he gave Camorra a bit more of a gentle hug.

“He’s my lanky asshole now.” Cammy laughed before giving Patrick a sultry wink.

Patrick turned a fantastic shade of red, and Marcus caught it. “OH Shit!!” Marcus Gafa’d, “About fuckin time. You two were always dancing around it like a pair of high schoolers. So, How big is Patrick’s Big Iron.”

“YOU MOTHER FUCKER!” Patrick roared; his feigned rage ruined by the belly laugh that followed as he took a swing at Marcus. It was Cammy’s turn to flush before losing to a bout of giggles.

Cory just shook his head, “Alright, alright. Now that the reunion’s over. I’d like to hold you to that end of the week figure.”

“With these two knuckleheads aboard, we’ll be ready.” Patrick huffed, smirking at the two’s not so slightly exaggerated affronted looks.

“Good, I’ll not keep you further.” Cory nodded with a smile before turning to leave.

“You forget somethin’ Skipper?” Lewis asked with a drawl. Cory turned to find all four of them giving him a Human salute, “Best get used to it now. We are a Naval vessel now.”

Cory paused for a moment before returning the Salute. It felt strange, but They were right. It was time to start things off right. He left Patrick and his section to their work and headed for the armory.

____________________________________________________________________

Doctor Jackaline Young worked her way around the Infirmary, slowly memorizing the layout of her new domain. She smiled softly to herself as she studied the flow of the Infirmary. It had only taken a week, but Cory managed to acquire every one of her requests, after accepting that she was very much going to be his head doctor. Her infirmary was an entire converted bay originally designed to house soldiers in the long trips between boarding or landing actions. Because of the re-envisioned space, Her infirmary was almost two-thirds the size of her previous S.O.L. infirmary Station; and she was in charge of it all. She watched her nurses flutter about the space, organizing and familiarizing themselves just as she had. She finally allowed herself to step into her office, setting down the small box of office personal items that she had decided to bring with her. The space was spartan, but clean and functional. Her box followed that mantra, and her personal data pads were set atop their charging stations to both recharge and sync to their new environment’s data systems. She was just finishing up when her office door slid open, “I’ll be with you in a minu…” She was cut off with a chuckle.

“Doesn’t take long does it. Already the Boss are we?” She spun to see Cory leaning up against the door jam with a smile on his face.

“Well of course, Captain.” She gave him a quick wink that told him that she was staying professional for appearances only. “It appears almost all my requests have been accommodated. Thank you.”

“Only the best for the best. I hope it is enough.” Cory mused, not entirely comfortably.

“Time will tell. All of this will do a ton of good as it is.” Jackie responded, “Thank you.”

“Always, how long do you think you will need before you are operational” Cory asked.

“Give me a couple of weeks to get the nurses trained up. I’ll also be brushing up on other species anatomy, considering how far afield we may end up” Jackie pondered. “We will be ready by the time we depart for real. When is the sea trial due to start?

“Early next week. Engineering is putting the finishing touches on the Grid.” Cory answered. He stepped past the door jam, letting it close behind him, and strolled up to Jackie. “You’re sure about this?” he asked softly, wrapping his arms around the small of her back and pulling her into an embrace. “It’s still weird that I can’t feel you, I have to ask.” he spoke gently.

“I’m sure.” She smiled up at him. “I’ve always wanted my own Infirmary… and I hear the captain is a good man.” She said, tiptoeing up to get a quick kiss. “That’s my answer.”

“Fair enough, the only question left is, Do you want your own quarters or…” he was cut off by Jackie pulling him into a second, deeper lip lock. “Alright, alright consider it asked, and answered” He chuckled. “I must go. I still need to check on the bridge. Admiral Grarzia has been… cagey… about what changes he made.

“Ah, Go. I still have stuff to finish here. Ill see you tonight.” Jackie smiled before releasing him.

Cory was still smiling like an idiot as he left the Infirmary.

___________________________________________________________________________________

R’Cari and Sombra burned hard for orbit. Today they faced all 5 of the Planetary defense wings. Numbering some 65 single seat fighters, they were going to be backed up by a pair of Delmar destroyers.

*You ready, McLovin.* Ivar heard Martina speak directly into his mind. It was still very strange to be connected to each other like this, but the simulations following their first Alpha Synce had proven terrifying against Ivar’s 303 wing. Commander Himar had been promoted to Command over all the wings responsible for the defense of Delmar. Ivar had inherited 303 Wing for the time being and had pushed his boys hard work on their “Gravity Training”. They had not lasted but moments under the insane new capabilities that Ivar and Martina working as one mind. Today was going to be the real test. Himar had pulled out all the stops, even requesting capital ship support.

“Born ready, Chika” Ivar responded, he could feel her satisfaction at the hunger for battle they both shared. The two vessels finally ripped themselves from the Delmar atmosphere. Everyone’s weapons were deactivated today, with Data Link running Referee. It would calculate every weapons discharge and missile launch to decipher the battle in real-time and enact “damage” and “kills” safely. *Mac and Lyri weren’t Lying, this is... Whoa. It’s gonna take some getting used to. * Ivar thought into the ether between them.

*I know. At least we can choose what we share. Every fleeting thought would be… a lot*Martina mused back. *I’m getting my first locks... time to go to work*

R’Cari and Sombra did something that would have been completely against doctrine mere weeks ago… They broke formation and separated completely. R’Cari and Sombra howled into The Black as the Planetary referee’s began registering weapons activations and launches.

The fight was joined as Ivar and Martina changed tactics completely compared to their previous exercises, and chose to maximize their velocity, making incoming fire unable to compensate with the Delta V targeting problem. Both pushed past 8 Human G’s internal as their ships roared through the void. Data and thought became one as Ivar and Martina were both linked to both their ships and to each other at the speed of the mind. Targeting solutions, engine signatures, and weapon’s locks flowed between them. It became impossible to distinguish who’s sensors were locking which target as both McLovin and Chica began to release ordinance. Amraam’s began bellowing off their rails. Martina had discovered that with their link, they could lock and fire each other’s weapons as if they were two halves of the same ship. Delmar defense fighters began reporting “dead” and filing off to the apply named, “graveyard” coordinates as R’Cari and Sombra slicked their reapers scythes in simulated blood.

Behind two helmets, in two separate cockpits, in two separate ships hundreds of thousands of kilometers apart, two beings shared one mind….. They bore matching predatory grins as they pressed their attack.