Unholy Star, Beyond Faith

The Mists of Geolan - Part 1

[On the Duilleag, Akira class Starwing carrier, Skyean Kingdom]

Vulpini, Admiral of the Skyean Fleet and Golden Druid of the Tuath Dé was the latest in a long line of captains to take the helm of the mighty Duilleag, the Blade of the Skyean Fleet. The battled hardened captain stood atop a silver disk floating in space and peered about the flotilla of battleships as they floated in perfect formation about her ship, the scene reminded her of ancient standing stones around an proud and upright obelisk--it was sun worship. She turned her attention to the haloed planet Geolan; it dominated the scene with the surface of its dark side eclipsing the face of its star. "Report."

The voice of her first Lieutenant provided the status update, his formal voice clear and confident, "The death squad ships remain hovering over the capital Tun da Main. Still no response from Planet Control."

"Strange." Observed the Captain. "And no garrison? The enclave?"

"No. I can confirm that the last patrol assigned here was over fifty years ago. It left with the last druid. The planet is now protected by a militia, and the population majority is church going."

"Can we contact the militia command? We need some source of information from the ground."

"No, we've tried and there's no response from any thread request including to their processor's remote interface. It's like the planet's dead."

"What was that?" Vulpini's blue eyes narrowed as she thought she spied a small flash of light near the ring of the halo. Her hunch confirmed by a second flash."Those flashes. I need information now!"

"Death Squad vessels have released an offensive on the planet's surface. It seems to be explosive ordinance, and the location corresponds to the position of the capital's omikron processor. They've taken out the processor! Incoming emergency request; it's a spacefarer's distress thread but from the surface. Audio only."

"Accept the request. Broadcast to our captains. I'll take the thread."

"Yes Admiral. Accepted Now. It's from a priest. Thread open."

"Tun da Main, This is Admiral Vulpini of the Duilleag. Please state your name, location and situation."

A panicked voice replied amid the sound of gunfire. "This is Churchman Avan we are in the St Valentines Church on the city outskirts. It's the Death Squad. There must be a hundred of them; they've gone crazy, they're killing us like ani..." She was cut off by the sound of an energy bolt followed by a scream. "Can you hurry! We don't have much time. Even the walls of our church won't protect us for long."

"Tell me Avan. Do you have any support on the ground?"

"Our militia has been slaughtered. Hurry!"

"We will help, but you need..."

"Admiral. We've lost the thread." Interrupted the Lieutenant.

"Yes, I can see that." She retorted annoyed. With the wave of a hand, the platform that she was standing on darted thousands of meters away from the fleet and towards the three Death Squad 8 cruisers, dark crystals hanging together above the planet's stratosphere.

"Lieutenant, tell me the maximum complement of each of the Death Squad cruisers."

"Each ship flies with a complement of thirty-two crew with a maximum of twenty-five trained combatants."

"And Death Squad 8. How many of the death dealers themselves?" Asked the captain.

"There were fifteen before the New Freedom event. So, fourteen of them now. Plus, twelve or so  acolytes--trainees."

"Fourteen against a whole unit of our space marines. Not to mention the mechs; that's pretty good odds don't you agree Lieutenant? Further, if there are so many of them on the ground, then their ships will be essentially crewless.

The Admiral opened a broadcast thread to her commanders and waited momentarily for the officers to respond. When they had all connected, Vulpini continued, "Here's what we're going to do:

"Colonel Gulo,  take your unit planetside to deal with the death squad on the ground. This mission was formed by order of the King himself, so I want zero collateral damage; I can't stress this more strongly. The media routines will be deployed, ping them for any pending death squad kills. I'm putting forward the individual marine with the most death squad skulls up for a genetic p upgrade.

"Captains. In space, forward destroyers are to surround the the death squad cruisers and favour defensive rigging; these ships are amongst the best produced from the Outer Hebrides ship yards and even with a minimal crew are not to be underestimated. 

"Commander Rivers, I'm sending the star wings out in reserve; your fighters are not to engage unless I give the specific order.

"That's it! Everyone, battle well for Scythe and Kingdom, Long live the King!"

"Long live the King!" her leaders replied and dropped their thread.

On her disc in space, the Admiral floated back to a position where she could oversee the deployment of the fighters, troop transports and much larger destroyers. For her, the prelude to battle was like sunrise and the promise of a beautiful day.

* * *

[around two hours earlier in the St Valentines Church, Tun da Main, Geolan]

The din in the Church was deafening as the death squad and their crews debated as to their course next course of action. The auger, Harris had announced that the small Skyean fleet had entered jump and would be within assault range within two hours. Sam was standing at the altar with Koopa both listening closely to Father Race. In any other situation, by his hand gestures and disposition, it would have seemed that Race was telling a joke. But the passionate response from Koopa with bared teeth and raising anger indicated that there was nothing humorous concerning the Father's suggestion, she spat, "If we confront them in space we'll be obliterated! I understand that one for one our ships might be a match for perhaps three of their destroyers, but if you didn't notice that's the Blade out there, likely loaded with seventy fucking space birds and not to mention its offensive arrays. You know me, and I'm the last one to run from a fight, but there is no value in a sacrificing our crews as a King's punishment. Everything that Eiko has done will be undone in an instant once the footage is released."

"So what do you suggest? We hand over our ships and meet our deaths here on the ground. There are eight of us against what will be mechs and a hundred space marines. These are not amateurs were talking about, these are the amongst the best warriors in the Kingdom. Heard of Gulo Gulo? That one is Vulpini's favourite, and they's Raider unit almost always deploys with the Duilleag. I fought beside Gulo at Astrid, and I can tell you that they's a match for any of us, and that's just one andro! I guarantee that they's raised their marines their equal, every one of them." Race's smile was now more of a grimace.

Sam knew better than interject between her two seniors without a plan, but she noticed that the local priest Avan had positioned herself nearby and was looking on with intent. Sam interrupted her squad leaders, "Koopa, Race, perhaps we should hear from another perspective. Churchman Avan, did you have something to add?"

The two death squad leaders disengaged from their debate and focused their attention on the petite Avan who moved her mouth to speak, but when no words were forthcoming, she cleared her throat with a nervous ahem, "I do have an idea. The events of the past weeks and days have carried great weight in our community, and I fear that we could not return to the life of a compliant colony. Outside, I know that our Governor waits in the mist with our soldiers. Please, can I invite him in with our officers? I want to address the congregation."