Path of the Outcast

by Gav Thorpe

  ‘The haugri-alim are as good at engineering as they are at fighting,’ said Maensith as Aradryan watched more glowing slag jettisoned from breaks in the damaged ship’s metal carcass. ‘Another couple of salvoes and we will...’

  As she spoke, the enemy ship started to crack open, sending spinning fragments into space, chasm-like tears opening up along one side of its hull. There seemed to be dust or mist venting into the vacuum, until Maensith increased the magnification of the view and Aradryan saw many-limbed, squid-like shapes drifting out within the escaping artificial atmosphere; distance and scale had made them appear no larger than floating motes of debris. The haugri-alim were clad in silvery, banded suits that allowed their dozens of flailing tentacles free movement. Their torsos were protected within heavily reinforced domes of transparent material, allowing them a view in every direction.

  ‘Each is three times as tall as you or me,’ said Maensith, shaking her head. ‘They favour microwave-based weapons. Very nasty at close range. Anyway, they will not be posing any further threat. We will take our time before we board, to ensure that they have all been blown out or asphyxiated. The last thing we need is to run into a few survivors. When that is done, we can go down and take what we like.’

  ‘And what do they have that we want?’ asked Aradryan. ‘They seem so crude, I cannot believe anybody would want anything made by these creatures.’

  ‘They have access to many valuable ores and elements that are difficult to acquire by other means,’ said Maensith. She stepped out of the command pod, signalling to one of her lieutenants to take charge now that the enemy had been dealt a fatal blow. ‘Also, you will be surprised at the items that generate interest in markets like Khai-dazaar. haugri-alim skin is very tough, and there are some in Commorragh who swear that there is no material as thick yet flexible, ideal for working with to make undersuits and armour joints. Some of their digestive organs are also rich in certain rare minerals. It is a shame that we have to waste so many.’

  Aradryan said nothing as he watched the corpses of the haugri-alim dispersing through the void, their tattered suits and cracked protective domes glinting in the light of the distant star. He was not sure how he felt about their deaths. From so far away it was easy to dismiss such casual slaughter. It had been almost laughably easy to defeat them, and Aradryan wondered if he had made the wrong choice. He had stayed with Maensith for the promise of excitement and life-defining battle, but all he had witnessed so far was a cold, calculated massacre.

  Perhaps it would not all be like this, he told himself. It was probably better to think of the haugri-alim bodies drifting away from their ship in the same way as the others on board the Fae Taeruth: lost profit.

  Alliances

  The Winter Gulf – There was a time when the lands of Eldanesh and Ulthanesh were sundered from each other. A torrent as wide as an ocean divided the Houses of the great founders, and so it was that they would never come to meet. However, seeing that her children would forever be divided, the Goddess Isha gave thanks to Mighty Asuryan the All-seeing and asked that he part the rapids and allow the folk of Eldanesh and the folk of Ulthanesh to meet. This the Great Pillar of the Heavens did not do, for he was of the opinion that by their own efforts should Ulthanesh and Eldanesh come upon each other. Yet he tempered his judgement with a cooling breath, with which he stilled the waters of the Winter Gulf for a time. The torrent froze and the people of the two Houses were able to cross over. At times the waters thawed and they were divided of people and purpose, but at times they were united and the Winter Gulf served as a union between Eldanesh and Ulthanesh, as well as a barrier.

  The attack on the haugri-alim was only the first of several raids by the Fae Taeruth. After exchanging their spoils for more supplies at Khai-dazaar, Maensith took the ship out to a stretch of star systems along the arm of a nebula known as the Winter Gulf. Some of these engagements were won from afar, as had been the case with the haugri-alim, but on two occasions Aradryan was amongst the boarding crew. With each encounter his confidence grew; the humans who provided such easy pickings were slow and clumsy, with weapons as crude as their wielders. After the sheer terror of his daemonic encounter, Aradryan viewed these combats as little more than a chance to practise his marksmanship and swordcraft.

  Even though the challenge posed by these untrained adversaries was slim, the hack-and-slash of mortal combat was still exhilarating. Aradryan grew accustomed to the excitement of coming conflict as the Fae Taeruth would close in on her crippled prey, boarding boats sent screaming across the void to swiftly finish any survivors from the precision strikes of the weapon batteries. After each raid, he would return to the ship and the welcoming embrace of Maensith, temporarily sated but soon expectant of further excitement.

  His favoured position with Maensith did not earn him many friends amongst the ship’s officers, all of whom had served on the Fae Taeruth for a considerable time. Although bound together in battle, the company of the corsair vessel were not averse to veiled insults and threats; a very different atmosphere than aboard Lacontiran and Irdiris. Knowing that he could not rely upon the capricious whim of Maensith to protect him against all harm, Aradryan gathered about him a complement of self-interested eldar, freely lavishing his own share of the spoils upon them to guarantee their loyalty. Amongst the regular mercenaries such generosity was welcomed, and when others amongst the officers saw his popularity they wisely chose to align themselves with the up-and-coming corsair. Aradryan had never been one to bear grudges or ill wish and found it easy to accept such allegiances, his magnanimous attitude earning yet further influence. Such precautions meant that he had yet to be forced to bare a blade against a rival, and long he hoped that situation would prevail; he could face a party of humans without qualm but there were some amongst the Fae Taeruth’s crew who far surpassed Aradryan in swordsense and fighting experience.

  The successes enjoyed by the corsairs quickly healed any divisions, and Maensith was keen to have a lieutenant like Aradryan. A Commorraghan by birth, she was feared and respected by her crew but rarely liked, despite her easy-going disposition towards them. Aided by Aradryan’s quick wit, she was able to keep her fractious underlings from falling out too often and it was agreed across the company that they could expect fine and profitable times ahead.

  Such was the optimism aboard the Fae Taeruth as they headed for another foray into human space. The webway gave the eldar the advantage over their foes; humans were forced to traverse the astronomical distances between stars using the perilous, untamed warp. Only able to travel a relatively few light years at a time, hopping from system to system, the human merchants who plied their trade along the rim of the Winter Gulf were easily found and run down.

  Moving through the webway in preparation for a convoy raid into a system known as Naimh-neilith, the Fae Taeruth came upon an extraordinary gathering of ships. Summoned to the observation gallery, Aradryan met Maensith. Several holo-displays showed a vast interspace at the confluence of two arterial webway tunnels, and in that juncture a fleet was assembling.

  Aradryan counted eight other ships, three as large as the Fae Taeruth, the others being smaller frigate- and destroyer-sized vessels. Two of the other cruisers, menacingly black and midnight blue, clearly bore the markings of Commorragh, which Maensith quickly identified as coming from the same kabal – the Ascendant Spear. The rest were displaying a variety of bold and colourful patterns, tiger-striped and mottled with blues and whites and oranges. The matrix of the webway was thrumming with communication, and the Fae Taeruth was hailed as soon as she appeared.

  One of the holo-images changed at Maensith’s command, switching from a view of the largest corsair ship to show a tall eldar dressed in a long coat of shimmering gold over a bodysuit of purple and white. His hair was raven-black, styled in a high crest that cascaded past his shoulders. There was a scar on his upper lip that twisted his mouth into what resembled a permanent sneer, an expression that was matched by the look in his eyes.
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  ‘It seems we have an uninvited guest,’ said the eldar. ‘Perhaps you catch the scent of the scraps we will leave you.’

  ‘I am Maensith of the Fae Taeruth.’ The captain kept her calm despite the insult. ‘Please do me the courtesy of naming yourself.’

  ‘Saidar Yrithain, Prince-Commander of the Azure Flame,’ said the other with a mocking bow. ‘My ship is the Sathaisun. I am sure you have heard of me.’

  ‘I have now,’ said Maensith. ‘I have raided the Winter Gulf for a dozen passes, but I do not recall the fleet of the Azure Flame.’

  Before Yrithain could retort, another holo-figure shimmered into existence. The armour-clad figure immediately put Aradryan in mind of Maensith in her full battledress; he wore black, bladed plates over golden mesh, segmented gauntlets sheathing long-fingered hands. The newcomer’s face was gaunt and pale, his eyes dark and piercing, and his head was bald except for a white scalplock threaded with silver skull-shaped beads.

  ‘Maensith of the Crimson Talon is known to me,’ said the Commorraghan.

  ‘And Khiadysis, Hierarch of the Ascendant Spear needs no introduction to me,’ replied Maensith, touching the fingertips of her right hand to her left shoulder with a quick nod of the head. Though the captain kept a passive face and calmly clasped her hands behind her back, Aradryan sensed a sudden nervousness in the mannerisms of his lover. ‘It has been a long time since I laid claim to any membership of the Crimson Talon.’

  ‘Your self-exile is a matter of little remark any more,’ said Khiadysis. ‘You were one of the most promising dracons, but memories can be cruelly short in Commorragh.’

  ‘Success in the kabals breeds its own kind of peril, hierarch. I did not expect to meet with such a lord of Commorragh so far from the Dark City. I hope that it is good fortune, as it would be a great inconvenience to locate new raiding territories.’

  Khiadysis laughed, short and sharp, and waved a benevolent hand in Maensith’s direction.

  ‘I understand your worry. It would not serve any purpose to disclose our meeting to your former kabalites, so harbour no concerns on that account. Your present location shall remain unspoken to those in the Crimson Talon who might desire to know it.’

  ‘You have my thanks.’ Maensith nodded again, though she did not relax.

  ‘Perhaps the two of you could reminisce at your pleasure when we have concluded our purpose here,’ cut in Yrithain. His holo-image turned towards Maensith. ‘Your timing is unfortunate, and if you sought to conduct some action at Naimh-neilith you must re-evaluate your plans.’

  ‘Nonsense, Yrithain,’ said Khiadysis. ‘Another ship of the Fae Taeruth’s size, which I am sure is more than ably commanded by Maensith, would be a notable addition to our firepower.’

  Yrithain glowered at the kabalite but did not argue. Aradryan watched the exchange in silence, unsure of the comparative authority and agendas of the two commanders. At a guess, he thought that Khiadysis held the upper hand in the conversation, though his ships were outnumbered by the corsairs. The arrival of the Fae Taeruth may have altered the power balance in the ad-hoc fleet, and they would do well to keep both Yrithain and Khiadysis happy.

  ‘If that is to be the case, we must adapt our strategy,’ said the prince-commander. ‘Maensith, please ready your ship for communion with the Sathaisun and we shall be able to locate a role for you and your vessel.’

  ‘Of course, Yrithain. And what is the purpose of this gathering? Is there a convoy en route?’

  ‘Nothing so dull,’ said Khiadysis. ‘I have not come all of this way for a few ships. We will be raiding Naimh-neilith itself.’

  ‘Attacking the planet?’ said Aradryan, his surprise getting the better of him. His outburst was not seen by the others – his form was not part of the holo-projection from the Fae Taeruth – but he earned himself a scowl from Maensith. The captain turned back to the others with a sly smile.

  ‘It is good fortune indeed that brings us here at this time,’ she said. ‘I shall begin the communion shortly.’

  With nods of parting, the images of the other two commanders flickered into nothing. Maensith looked at Aradryan, her displeasure dissipating.

  ‘You, my lover, are about to experience the greatest thrill this life can offer,’ she said.

  Laser fire strobed across the ether, ripping livid wounds of flame and debris across the armour of the human’s orbital station. Missiles flared from the battlestation’s defence turrets, sweeping past the voidcutter piloted by Aradryan, targeted at the larger eldar ships behind the flotilla of boarding craft. Aradryan did his best to focus on the controls of the small single-sailed vessel, but it was impossible to totally ignore the mayhem that was going on around the boarding parties.

  The wreckage of system defence ships drifted across his view, billowing gas and fire as they were drawn into the gravity well of the planet below. The shimmering shape of an eldar frigate enclosed by holofields stole around the periphery of the battle, its laser batteries intercepting a swarm of bombers launching from a dock set high in the battlestation’s superstructure. The tracery of laser fire and blossoms of explosion lit the huge orbiting platform, highlighting the cave-like opening that was the pirates’ point of attack.

  The station looked like an inverted, four-storeyed ziggurat in general shape, with a single command tower extending far beneath its shadowed bulk, navigation lights and sensor arrays jutting from the shaft of the control spire. Stubby defence emplacements dotted its surface and the space around it shimmered red with powerfields overloading as the fire of the eldar fleet converged on the platform.

  Shockwaves of energy rippled past the voidcutter, but Aradryan dealt with each successive buffering with practised control, riding through the expanding clouds of radiation and glittering particles.

  Maensith had been right: this was one of the most beautiful and terrifying acts Aradryan had performed. The interplay of the fleet, the web of laser fire lancing from turrets and gun decks, created mesmerising patterns against the dark circle of the world, with the station a glittering ruby at their centre. As when he had been at Hirith-Hreslain and the raid on the haugri-alim, Aradryan felt detachment, and had the time and space to admire and be awed by the spectacle of war. Yet there was also the danger of the encounter with the orks and the flight from the daemonettes, for there was genuine peril as laser beams seared across the cockpit display and missiles as large as the voidcutter powered past. And at the end was the promise of the close-fighting that Aradryan found so thrilling.

  The Fae Taeruth had been added to the part of the fleet tasked with silencing the battlestation, so that the Commorraghans and Yrithain’s cruiser could close to low orbit and launch their raid on the planet itself. The orbital platform was more than a tactical objective; it housed weapons magazines and extensive storage holds full of potential plunder. Yrithain had assured Maensith that he already had a party interested in the acquisition of these items, and delivery of the guns, ammunition and food packs would ensure the Fae Taeruth’s crew would share in their allotment of the spoils.

  Along with a dozen other voidcutters and star-runners, Aradryan’s craft arrowed through the emerging streams of laser fire. As the range to the battlestation closed, shell-firing cannons opened up, their high-explosive rounds filling the vacuum with spinning shrapnel. Their holofields as effective against the crude human sensors as they were the naked eye, the assault boats sped through the furious defensive fire, trusting to speed to keep them ahead of the enemy’s targeting matrices.

  The opening that Aradryan was aiming for grew larger and larger on the display. With enough power in the voidcutter’s engines to continue the mission, Aradryan furled the stellar sail and outriggers as the flotilla passed beyond the minimum range of the defence turrets. White light blazed from the open bay, from which a squadron of fighters had launched at the first sign of attack. Those craft had been dealt with by the initial eldar wave of Nightwing fighters, and the way was clear for the boarding parties to land
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  Guiding the voidcutter on a curving path beneath the upper levels of the platform, Aradryan steered towards the bay opening. As the craft plunged into the bright docking lights within, the landing area could be clearly seen. Several dozen humans were in the bay, dressed in white trousers and long blue coats. They wore no helmets, their shaven heads glinting in the glare of the lights, but they had rebreather masks on, connected by ribbed piping to air tanks on their backs. Aradryan’s second-in-command on the mission, Taelisieth, activated the twin brightlances mounted in the nose of the voidcutter. From the other attack boats spewed more laser fire, joined by the flare of blue plasma stars. The combined fire scythed through the waiting humans as the station’s defenders opened fire with their lasguns and crude automatic rifles. Miniature warp vortexes, no wider than Aradryan’s outstretched arms, appeared in the midst of the humans; the distort cannons on two of the raiders had been activated. The defenders caught in the grip of these pocket warp gates were pulled apart by the crashing forces, some sucked directly into the warp. Aradryan had no time to contemplate the hideous fate of those unfortunate enough to survive the transition into warp space; their torment would not last long.

  Braking heavily, brightlances still spitting beams of blue energy across the dock, Aradryan brought the voidcutter to a sharp stop, dropping to the bay floor. Even as the craft settled down, the main door was opening and he was rising from his seat. He snatched his sword from the console and clipped the scabbard to his belt as he hurried down the voidcutter’s central passageway.

  Emerging into the landing bay, nose and mouth covered with a lightweight breathing mask, Aradryan found that there were no survivors of the assault boats’ barrage of fire. To his right, several corsairs were guiding an anti-grav dais down the ramp of their star-runner, another distort cannon mounted on the floating platform. Other groups were heading to secure the entry routes into the bay – two of them – ensuring that the humans could not counter-attack.