(BSS Mewtwo, Sol System)
Lorna Crowley, Slave-Captain of the BSS Mewtwo, sighed as she collapsed into the comfortable sofa in the common room the small freighter had for its crew. They’d completed the mission their Master had given them, and made a profit besides selling exotic luxury items that were boldly labeled as being ‘Made in Star’s Reach’, and ‘Nomad Approved’. Each one with a black star on the packaging. But she was still concerned. What they’d discovered since entering the system was troubling, to say the least.
“Ah, Captain, I’m glad I caught you.”
Lorna shrieked in surprise as she heard a voice out of nowhere, and saw her Master’s face looking at her from only a couple feet away. As her heart retreated from her throat, she realized that he wasn’t actually here. It was a hologram. That meant he’d accessed the communications system of her ship. Well, his ship. She’d mostly come to terms with the fact that she was a slave, but it still rankled to not be the owner of the ship her father bought. Doing her best to keep her eye from twitching in annoyance, she smiled, and said, “Master, what can I do for you?”
The hologram chuckled, and said, “I’ve been reading over the reports from Sam about what Lucio told you, and I’m definitely getting concerned. Between what you’ve learned, and what we’ve discovered through other means, the analysts are convinced that something big is going to happen, and soon.”
That got her attention, real fast. If ‘big things’ were happening that affected the fabric of space, she did NOT want to be in the middle of things. Leave that to the military types! “Soon? But surely there’d be more warning if things were about to happen? Do we need to evacuate?”
Her Master shook his head. “Obviously, we’re extrapolating based on the data available, but the information provided by your sensors and the Imperial data we’ve ‘accessed’ suggests that things are indeed moving in a negative direction. Lucio gave you an encrypted contact code, yes?”
She nodded. “Yes, he gave me a code to use to contact him. He said that while ‘locals couldn’t listen in on Nomad communications, he wasn’t comfortable giving his private contact details through the Nomad networks. Is this something too sensitive to be trusted to the Nomad networks?”
“Nothing terrible, on the face of it. I just need Lucio to convince the Empress to reach out to the Black Star Navy and arrange for some of our ships to come to Sol system as part of a ‘training exercise’. A fleet training exercise. I’ll be bringing First, Second, and Fifth Groups with me.”
She could feel her face blanching. If he was going to bring three-fifths of the offensive forces of the Black Star Navy for ‘training exercises’, then something very big was going to happen! She definitely needed to get permission to get her ship out of here before it happened!
“Understood, Master. Do you want us to remain on station? Or should we continue with our official trade route?”
“Once you’ve talked to Lucio and he’s secured the contract for the ‘war games’, you may continue on your way at best speed. Until then, I need eyes in the system. If worst comes to worst, we’ll make our way there without permission, but it will be much better if we can be in place before things go to hell, especially since it will take a few days for the fleet to move into position.”
She nodded. “I understand, Master. But it might be difficult to convince the Empress’s advisor that he needs to bring in an outside navy to deal with spatial anomalies…”
The hologram looked to the side, listening to someone off-screen. Turning back to her, he said, “Let him know that the Fourth Company of the Black Star Marines will be with us. And if he gives you too much trouble, let him know that Fourth Group from the Navy and First Company from the Marines are going to Coldana, also for ‘training exercises’.”
Oh, shit. “This is all somehow related to the Harvester’s death? But how could that be? The Harvester wasn’t anywhere near Sol!”
The hologram shrugged. “If you really want to know, I can give you the explanation the lab guys gave me. But without a few degrees in experimental transdimensional physics, I doubt you’ll understand them any better than I did. I’m not risking anything more over open comms, even with the encryption Raven’s running on this call. Get the contract, so the fleet can get to Terra.”
Lorna simply nodded, dumbly. “Very well, Master. I’ll see it done.”
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“I know you will. Mollen, out.”
Lorna sighed, and searched through the folders on her comm for the encrypted contact card the Empress’s Advisor had given her. She just hoped that he wouldn’t ask her too many questions she didn’t have answers to. That, and that he’d agree quickly, so that she could get her ship, and her crew, out of here before things blew up.
(Private Room, Empress’s Delight, Inner Throne, Aurum Throni, Terran Orbit)
She had hoped to be done with just giving the Empress’s Advisor her Master’s message, and then getting out of the system. But, no. That would have been too easy.
Instead, she was here, in a private room of a fancy nightclub in the Inner Throne, where she plainly knew that she had absolutely no business being. She didn’t know why she was here, really. Lucio had simply ‘suggested’ she showed up. So, here she was, with Gwen and Sam at her side for moral support.
The door opened, and the three nervous women looked up to see two well-built men in black suits step in. Given that the two were very clearly armed, Lorna was starting to feel quite nervous that she was in an area that suppressed the inventory system of her bracers. She doubted the three of the could take even one of the massive bodyguards (because they couldn’t be anything else) even if the guards were unarmed and they had all their gear. They both had an aura of training and harnessed lethality that suggested that they were all too capable of ripping them apart even without the weapons her HUD was indicating they had on them.
She was starting to wonder what in the hell was going on when the guards split to either side of the doorway, and in walked Lucio de Lici, the Empress’s Advisor. But the flashy and flamboyant Nomad wasn’t the one who caught her eye, or made her heart suddenly leap up into her throat. No, that distinction went to Her.
Walking with a predatory grace common to those with long military and martial arts training, the woman who entered after Lucio was stunning to behold. Her gown showed off a muscled physique that had softened slightly due to the demands of motherhood and her station. Indeed, the swelling of her belly told the fact that she was quite a ways along, with twins, if the gossip sites were telling the truth, which would dull the edges of anyone’s fighting trim. But those eyes, still held the same fire that could be seen in all the holodramas about the recent Civil War, picturing her on the deck of her superdreadnought commanding the Loyalist forces as they battled back against the Traitor Prince and his Machine God.
The three of them rose from their seats and bowed low. Lorna was the first to speak, “Your Majesty! This slave greets you, in the name of her Master, Mirikon Mollen, Owner of the Black Star Company. Please forgive our attire, we had no idea we would be in your presence.”
Merida Vaughn, Empress of the Terran Empire and protector of her people, waved her hand. “Rise, all of you. I am not here in an official capacity this evening. Officially, I am relaxing for a night out, as it is only a couple months before the twins are due.” She sighed in relief as she settled into one of the chairs. “Ugh. I thought I was prepared for this, but I’d rather be facing my Academy exams all over again, rather than all of… this.”
The Empress shook her head, and looked at the three women, who had risen, and were nervously returning to their seats. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not here for anything terrible. But when Lucio delivered your Master’s message to me, and relayed the forces he was preparing to send, whether he was invited or not, that, naturally, piqued my curiosity. Especially since Naval Intelligence has no record of this ‘Fourth Company’ of his Marines.”
She focused her eyes on Lorna, and said, “So, what is it that has provoked your master so much, that he isn’t willing to speak over secured comms about it?”
Lorna was about to respond, when she heard Sam clear her throat. The Nomad looked sheepish, but said, “Your Majesty, as your Advisor no doubt told you, I am a Nomad. Sir Lucio did not wish to extend personal contact information in the Nomad networks, the kind that would require more personal information from both sides, encompassing our lives in both our worlds. However, as his property, and a member of Black Star, I have the ability to open a completely private line to him.”
The Empress nodded. “Leaving you to act as an interpreter, essentially, much as how most groups use Nomads when talking about their communications abilities. Tell me, how is this different from normal communications, or your normal networks?”
Samantha Michaels paused to gather her thoughts for a moment, and said, “It is similar to how you have different tiers of security for your messaging in this world. There are public forums, private chatrooms, and personal messaging systems. There are two levels of personal messages through the Nomad networks, one that is essentially an email from one to another, and the other is more personal, because it works on our connection to this world, and gets priority access. It is primarily used by friends or companions who have close bonds, but the Master also offers it to Nomads under his command, allowing them closer access to him, separate of normal channels. This requires some exchange of private information, but is generally more secure than the common methods of communication.”
The Empress nodded, satisfied. “I see. That matches what Lucio told me of the Nomad communications, and their different capabilities, as well as limitations. Very well, contact Captain Mollen, and ask him what this is all about.”
Sam nodded at the command, since it clearly was one, and closed her eyes for a moment. Lorna was wondering how long it would take, when she opened her eyes again, and said, “Master is linked in now. I will say his words exactly as they are given to me.”
She took a breath, and then said, “Hello, Empress, Lucio. No doubt you’ve got plenty of scientists doing their very best to check out and analyze the readings you’ve got of the anomalies forming around Sol System. In truth, these anomalies are also forming in the Coldana System, and we believe there is some ‘excitement’ about to start in Shadowgate, though we can’t confirm that, for obvious reasons.”
The Empress frowned. “Shadowgate? What does that isolated system have to do with anything? No one’s been able to get in or out of the system for decades!”
“Ah, that is not entirely true. But that isn’t the point of this call, or the reason why I’m hoping for some fleet-level ‘training exercises’ in the very immediate future. I do not doubt that you have some very smart people working for you, but they do not have access to the same information I do, and my people have come up with some disturbing conclusions.”
“Suffice to say, things will be coming to a head in Sol very soon, according to their projections, and we don’t yet know if it can be stopped, or at least channeled into something less destructive. However, I would feel quite a bit better if a few of my ships were in place, when this does go up. I wouldn’t trust normal methods of FTL travel for a while after, not until things stabilize, if they stabilize.”
The Empress frowned. “You are not filling me with confidence, you know.”
“Get me the ‘exercises’, so no one freaks out and starts firing when my ships come through Alpha Centauri, and in five days I’ll explain it to you in person. If my people are correct, you’ll be wanting the extra firepower before this is through. To sweeten the pot, I’ll also be able to deliver the Merida’s Fortune, the newest battleship created by the Black Star Company for the Imperial Navy, as per our contract.”
Empress Merida sighed, and nodded. “Very well, Admiral. You’ll have a missive sent within the hour inviting the Black Star Navy to engage in training exercises around Sol. And we’ll discuss your naming sense for ships, among other things, when you get here.”