“Yes, Ambassador Nacht. Don’t worry, we’ll get you to Loyalist space just fine. But my job is to cut Imperial supply lines along the way.”
“Hitting logistics hubs like the one at Barnard’s Star and the two military transports we’ve taken will seriously curtail shipping for this whole sector, forcing the Imperials to shift some of their focus away from the front.”
“Well, ideally, we’ll convince them to start forming convoys, stripping defenses to keep their supply lines intact. They’re already short on escort vessels, from what I understand.”
“Yes, I enslaved the crews of the two transports, and disabled tackers. They’ll now serve as our fleet train to help resupply us as we fight. Missiles don’t grow on trees, after all.”
“Yes, don’t worry, Ambassador, barring any surprises at Katcheka, we’ll be in Loyalist space soon enough, and you’ll be able to use the Gateway in the Macross system to get back to the Confederacy.”
“No, the Black Star Fleet will be remaining, though we might have reinforcements by that time. We’re going back into Imperial space, and we’re going to raise hell.”
“Good night, Ambassador.”
I turned from the comm unit where I had been having a private conversation with the Ambassador over on the Artemis. The ship was cramped, what with the Ambassador and his staff there, but for a half-knelfi diplomat, Ambassador Michael Nacht was definitely able to roll with the punches, so long as you weren’t disrespecting him. I hadn’t gotten the full story, but scuttlebutt was that his Psy Mastery skills were all in the upper 90s, if not maxed, and his level was over a hundred. He was damn powerful, and touchy about his Honor, but apparently not as ‘kill them all and let God sort them out’ as he used to be before he met his wife, Bethany Anne Nacht.
At any rate, those two were ambassadors in name only. I had a feeling that, with war coming, those two were going to find a way to get into the thick of things. They sounded like real fighters. Wasn’t my problem, though, since I’d be dropping them off once we got to Loyalist space.
We’d made several attacks since striking Barnard’s Star, where we’d captured several freighters. We had forced the crews of the freighters and the station into escape pods, sent the freighters on a pre-programed course to a rendezvous point just outside Imperial space where the civilian side of the Black Star Fleet had crews waiting to take them over, and then blew the station to hell. I left a standard message beacon at the site of the former station, broadcasting the ‘new British Empire’ crap, just to confuse the situation a bit more.
The other attacks mostly ended with ships getting blown to scrap, since one shot from an Assassin-class corvette was enough to take out any civilian freighter, but on one run we’d managed to catch a pair of Vernon-class Imperial Navy transports. Heavily armored, designed for getting troops and supplies from a fleet base to the fleet while on the attack, the Vernons were the backbone of the Navy’s logistics. We captured two of them, recovering a whole mess of goodies, including extra missiles and ammunition, mil-spec rifles and sidearms, and enough power armor for all our tactical teams. Oh, and crates of implants to help augment the troops.
M98 Infantry Automatic Rifle
Type
Assault Rifle
Rank
Uncommon
Damage
100 – 150
Damage Type
Piercing
The M98 Infantry Automatic Rifle is an update of an older model that has seen service in war for centuries, being updated through the years to include miniaturized railgun technology. Issued to Marine units, it is less concerned with aesthetics and new tech, and more focused on ruggedness and reliability. It is a mass-produced light railgun, but one designed to take a beating and continue firing. There are more powerful weapons out there, but the M98 is the Marines’ choice for combat ops in adverse conditions.
+40 Phys. Att.
Melee Hardened – Can be used in melee as a weapon without damaging the rifle.
Reliable – Risk of jamming or other problems due to impact and environmental conditions reduced by 75%.
Electronic Firing – Rail weapon does not need atmosphere to fire.
35 shot clips
M2211A Pistol
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Type
Pistol
Rank
Uncommon
Damage
75 – 90
Damage Type
Piercing
The M2211 is one of the first Psyshot pistols used by the Military, and has been updated many times through the years. Renowned for its rugged reliability due to a lack of moving parts other than the trigger, the M2211A is a favorite of both military and civilian shooters for personal protection or pleasure shooting. As a Psyshot weapon, it is vacuum-rated, and can switch between regular and stun shots.
+25 Phys. Att.
Melee Hardened – Can be used in melee as a weapon without damaging the gun.
Reliable – Risk of jamming or other problems due to impact and environmental conditions reduced by 75%.
Stun Shots – Stun shots deal Stun damage. If Stun damage equals current HP, target becomes unconscious. Stun damage heals at a rate of (CON/10) per minute.
20 shot clips. (45 PP to recharge)
Yewex Front Line Master Suit (Special Operations Variant)
Type
Power Armor
Rank
Rare
Made by Yewex, the Front Line Master Suit (FLMS) is the latest in infantry armor and enhancement. Designed for the Imperial Marine Corps, the FLMS is rated for ship-to-ship and ship-to-ground operations, and allows the wearer to remain combat effective whether they are in hard vacuum or underwater (up to 9000 meters). The suit can be environmentally sealed, providing complete HAZMAT protection as long as the air supply lasts. Additional air tanks can be connected with the standard hookup, allowing for additional operation time. This version has slightly less armor, but compensates by having enhanced sensors and stealth capabilities. Illegal for civilian use in all Imperial jurisdictions.
+60 to all Physical Attributes
120 Physical Armor, 120 Energy Armor
+30% Physical Resistance
+30% Energy Resistance
Power Supply – Runs on standard armor batteries, 6 hours per charge.
Air Supply – Contains 1 hour internal air supply, can be expanded with external tanks.
Stealth Suite – Polychromatic coating gives wearer passive +20 effective rank with Stealth. When, combined with stealth settings allows the wearer to enter full stealth mode for up to 10 minutes. 1 minute recharge time.
The weapons and suits, once they had been properly cleaned of any annoying identifying tags or backdoors and spyware in the hardware or software, were well received by the tactical teams, naturally. Everyone liked the idea of having the same gear the spec ops types got to play with. The augmentations that came along with them, however, were, after a brief discussion with Bennie and Raven, ejected on a ballistic trajectory towards the nearest star.
Oh, they were top quality augments, don’t get me wrong, but Bennie recognized the optical implants immediately as being those that the new ‘converts’ to the Emperor’s church were sporting, which caused Raven to go through them with a fine-toothed comb. Thanks to that, we had an answer as to how the Emperor was spreading his AI’s church. The implants were so extensively hardwired with what was basically brainwashing software that it wouldn’t take long for the AI to take over anyone who had the implants, and the nano would start rewiring their brain and creating a transceiver to get updates from the AI whenever they were in range of an FTL comm. Instead of creating copies of itself, like the Legion plague did, the AI was creating thralls to do its bidding.
But that shit was so far above my pay grade that it wasn’t even funny. I just wanted to fly my ships, run my little company empire, and maybe enjoy the fruits of my labor as I worked on ‘rehabbing’ Liviana into someone who could be useful to me without using the Stepford protocols. The singer was traumatized to hell and back, since the one who caught her and performed her training was apparently under orders to make sure she got the ‘full experience’. She’d been trapped in her own mind, screaming as her body did things without her consent and reacted in the way her master wanted it to, while she felt everything.
For a privileged pop star, the situation had been even worse than what I’d done to a hardened warrior like Sona. And while she had been molded into a very attractive, very obedient sex slave, she was useless for anything else at the moment unless I used the Stepford protocols to make her more interesting. In other words, it was the opposite problem from Sona. Sona had to be broken (much like a wild horse) so she could be useful. Liviana, unfortunately, was so broken I needed to give her some fire if she was going to help me with my plans.
Fortunately, I found a way, using Mindread, to essentially ‘dive’ her mind. She’d basically shut herself off, to keep from experiencing as much of the outside world. It was her defense when she was trapped under the Stepford protocols. Now that they were off, she was basically a zombie on the surface, but the first time I managed to pierce her defenses, I used a more… gentle application of Mindbreaker to start those defenses wearing down over time.
The first time she really ‘woke up’, it was because Shearah was sitting with her, listening to some of Liviana’s music while she read the technical manuals of some of the new gear coming out of the Empire. Probably figuring out even more new things to do to the Raven. Shearah was surprised when Liviana shrieked, and slapped the music player off, before looking around, wide-eyed. And then she got scared.
Which was about five minutes ago, and why I was now rushing from dealing with the Ambassador, to dealing with a singer who was currently screaming in terror at, well, everything. Ugh, they had really broken her all to pieces, but I needed to get her back to some kind of ‘normal’. Fortunately, the pretty singer was too busy freaking out to notice me walk into my quarters, and I was able to hit her with a Charm Person, which had the pleasant effect of making her calm down somewhat. At least for the moment.
“Liviana Armata, I am your Master. You are mine in all respects. Body, mind, and soul, all you are now belongs to me. The pains and hurts are mine now, you don’t need to carry them. Now, who am I?”
Dull-eyed the singer nodded to me, clearly feeling the hypnotic effects of the Charm. “You are my Master. You purchased me from the Trainer.”
“That’s right. You are on board my ship. Tell me, how do you feel?”
“I am scared. The Trainer did things to me. He hurt me. Made me do things. When I wouldn’t, he turned on the machine, and locked me away. I had to watch as he trained the other me. I felt his hands, his whip. The other me liked it, and I had to feel that too. I tried to scream, tried to run, tried to bite him when he was in my mouth, but I couldn’t. The outer me wouldn’t let me. So I hid. I didn’t want to see what the outer me was doing. What she was feeling.” The singer’s voice was soft, despite the nature of her words. The Charm was working like a trance, almost, allowing her to speak without breaking down.
“The other you is gone now. I turned off the machine. You don’t have to feel what the other you felt now. I am your Master, and this comforts you. Tell me, what is it that you want? Do you want to forget the pain and the things that were done to you? Or do you want to learn from them?”
“Learn from them?”
“Yes, the fire and the hammer are cruel, but they can forge metal into a blade of superior quality. You have been through the fire. Do you wish to be stronger than before, or go back to the you that you used to be?”
She looked at me then, and said, “I don’t want to be afraid again.”
I smiled at her, and held her gaze as I released the Charm. “Good, then let us begin.”