This Friday my internship ends. I just have to see if I pass or not. In any case, I'll have a lot more time, so starting next Saturday, I might offer two or three chapters a day (I usually ask for opinions or what you'd like to see to generate more interaction with you).
-----------------------------
If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
-------------------------------
"We are thirty-five millennia in the future…" Kazimir said, irritated.
"Technically thirty-six millennia and a couple hundred years, to be exact," Kurt corrected.
"It's the same shit," Kazimir replied.
"No it isn't, but well… what can you do," Kurt answered with a sigh.
"I knew everything was too strange. So that anomaly sent us to the future… this is what happened to humanity. Is the Imperium the successor of the Dominion or of some other human state?" Mason asked.
"Yes. From what I know, there is an Emperor on Earth—now called Terra—who started a massive conquest of the known galaxy. He probably absorbed the Dominion at some point, assuming we really did arrive in the same universe," I explained.
"And… is there any way to return? Can we look for another anomaly? We could still go back to the Dominion… it must be possible," Harlan said, visibly unsettled.
"It depends on which spacetime theory is correct. If we're in a strict timeline… we can't go back, only forward. So…" I let the sentence hang, watching the color drain from his face.
"No…" Harlan murmured, rigid, nearly panicking.
"I won't read your mind out of respect, Harlan. Tell me what's wrong," I said, looking directly at him.
He took a deep breath, trembling.
"I have three daughters, Hendrik. A wife I left hidden in Umojan space. Every day I was out there, I promised myself I would make up for all the lost time… missing the little one's first words, all of that. But I think… that's what I was feeling now. My family was already dead. That's why I felt so empty." He kept his eyes on the ceiling, jaw tense.
"Yes, you're the only one married besides Kazimir… I'm sorry, Harlan. If I could do something, I would. But I can't," I said calmly, trying to sound as empathetic as possible despite my implants making it difficult.
"It's not your fault. If I have to blame someone, it's that bitch Davies… and Valerian for being a traitor." He inhaled sharply. "I'm going to step out. I'm not well for this." He stood and left without looking at anyone.
Kurt turned toward Kazimir. "And you, Kazimir… if you need time to process what happened with your wife—"
Kazimir let out a dry laugh. "Me? Worry about that broodmare? Please. The only reason I married her was because our Emperor wanted to tie his family to the nearest bloodline to the throne. If it were up to me, I wouldn't touch her with a stick. It was a blessing she never conceived anything."
"And you, Mason?" I asked, looking straight at him.
He shifted in his seat, thoughtful. "I had a father. I always thought he'd die before I did. He was a farmer, and I was a soldier… so I always believed he'd bury me first. It's a shame I wasn't there in his final days, but he would have been proud that I stayed true to my ideals."
I nodded and looked at Kurt.
"Orphan," he said bluntly.
"I know. You're very aware that I never read your minds out of respect… and well, I read your file where it said you grew up without parents. Besides—" I scratched my head, "and well… I read your mind when I first met you. And I know you were courting someone."
Kurt didn't look surprised. "I'd be offended if you hadn't done it. And yes… I was courting. Just that. Nothing more." He stayed silent a moment before continuing. "The past is past. What matters is the present. And we still have a duty. Though now it's difficult to avenge our Emperor… if there's no one left to kill. The bastard left before we did."
"We still carry the torch of his ideals," Kazimir said with a wide smile. "We won… we won. Ha… ha, ha. We beat that bastard. His liberal Dominion must have died devoured by the zerg or the protoss… and we endured." The joy on his face was so exaggerated it seemed impossible to erase.
"We still have sectors to verify. According to our reports, many planets to the south and east—where the Koprulu sector should be—aren't inhabited by humans. There's fauna… some organisms with a degree of intelligence, but nothing relevant. Still, we must make sure there isn't a second Dominion subjugated by the Imperium," I replied.
"It doesn't matter. Surviving is what matters. We are the bearers of Mengsk's authority… and it is our duty for the Dominion to rule over this Imperium." Kazimir spoke with absolute conviction.
Kurt looked at him tiredly. "It's an ambitious plan, don't you think? You want to face the greatest power we've ever conceived. We are insignificant compared to them. At best, we can win battles if we ambush them like we did today, but… how long until they learn to counter us? The day will come when they lure us into a trap, or simply overwhelm us with their numbers."
"Today was a good day. They almost killed Hendrik, but hey… I'm not complaining. We took down a fleet almost the same size as ours that outnumbered us 500 to 1 in crew, and now it's under our control. Mason, tell him what we captured in this battle, while our sleeping prince rested." Kazimir laughed again.
Mason checked his datapad. "What didn't we find? We have more than enough to arm the Dominion's forces to the teeth. Multiple types of tanks, full arsenals… though a lot of it is 'lasgun' garbage that can barely scratch a millimeter of adamantium on a CMC suit. We also captured large quantities of fighters, bombers, armed transports, artillery . Ammunition for years of campaigning. Personal armor… mostly that flak crap, but also anti-air systems, missiles, I can't even pronounce this number of tons… lots of construction equipment and almost triple the food—most of it something called corpse starch."
Kurt added, "Let's not forget the transport ships. The engineering team already started replacing the engines with ours. We'll bring them back to Dominion space and use them as carriers or to move material to war zones and transport personnel. A lot of people died because of your depressurization plan… though it worked very well. More than 90% of the crew died because of it. Others died resisting, like those cyborgs… but we captured more than thirty million crew members."
"Thirty times our numbers," Kazimir said, almost in awe. "And we also found some mutants who demand respect… ha, ha, ha. It was funny when I put a bullet in their heads. They offered me everything they had just so I wouldn't kill them."
"The three-eyed reptile-skinned mutants? What a disgusting sight… how do they even think they're human," Mason said with a contemptuous grin.
"They're important to the Imperium… that's why you must not kill them. They can serve as extremely valuable hostages. Without them, they cannot travel faster than light," I said, looking at Kazimir and Mason.
Kazimir blinked in disbelief. "You're joking, right? They depend on those mutants to travel faster than light? … Wait. They don't have warp-drive curvature engines? Not even in their military ships?"
"It's clear they don't," Kurt answered. "Otherwise, we would have faced constant tactical jumps or instant escapes. If they could travel on their own, they would have done it."
Kazimir threw his arms up, scandalized. "So… they handed over transportation autonomy to filthy mutants? They trusted their entire empire to those things?"
"So it seems," Kurt said with a shrug.
"That's why they're valuable," I insisted. "Don't kill them. We may need them for negotiations. I'll order a prison constructed in Dominion space exclusively for them."
Mason raised an eyebrow. "Special prison? For those mutants?"
"They're nobles," I answered. "Which means they'll demand certain accommodations to keep them controllable. If we treat them like cattle, they might not be useful for negotiations. If we treat them according to their rank, we can use them as diplomatic tools."
Kazimir let out a short, mocking laugh. "Unbelievable… the Imperium sustained by delicate mutants. This future is more ridiculous than I thought."
"Well, they're the only ones who can see the light of the Astronomicon—some kind of beacon in the Immaterium that remains active thanks to the throne of their god… And not only that. When they travel through the Immaterium, time doesn't move coherently. One hour in their dimension can be a century in realspace," I explained to the commanders.
Kazimir's eyes widened, but Kurt only snorted. "Wow… and here I was thinking they couldn't be more inefficient. Late taxes, a god-cult, corrupt governors… and now a completely unpredictable method of travel."
"It can also go the other way," I added. "A one-year voyage might equal seconds in realspace, and that is useful during emergencies."
Mason nodded. "Our Moebius transposition network is still better. We can move troops and resources to connected planets in seconds."
I allowed myself a faint smile. "And the Imperium can drown us under trillions of Imperial Guardsmen."
Kazimir slapped the table with an open palm, irritated. "No… no, Hendrik. We won the battle. We crushed them. We can repeat this." I could see exactly where he was going.
"We're not ready." I said it calmly. "We must wait. We can keep applying these operations to capture ships and their cargo, but this proves we still aren't prepared to face the Imperium in open war. We need to stick to psi-ops tactics."
Kazimir ran a hand over his face. "For the love of Mengsk… we can't keep cowering. We have to act, damn it. We can't limit ourselves to being a stone in their boot. We've discovered over and over that they're weak." He clenched his teeth. "But every time we fear them more."
"I didn't say we wouldn't act. Only that we must do it smartly. Besides, I want to verify what we found near the Koprulu sector," I said, ending the conversation.
I withdrew to organize the cleanup of the battlefield.
The victory had been decisive. We had not only eliminated an Imperial fleet—we captured entire shiploads of taxes destined for the Imperium. By reading the minds of a few astropaths, I confirmed something useful: they had sent messages about a rebellious governor rising against Terra, which drew Imperial attention far away from us.
All debris from our ships was recovered, and the same was done with the remains of the Imperial vessels. Most contained valuable adamantium—even the hulls broken in half were a fortune. In the space forge, we could melt them down and transform them into new cruisers. This victory wasn't just the captured fleet… but millions of tons of free adamantium.
We also sent patrols to the planet. We needed to study the local biology, and most inhabitants barely used stone spears and axes, so capturing several thousand was easy.
Despite working with exceptional efficiency, not every ship could be repaired quickly. Every minute counted, and we didn't want an Imperial fleet from the region arriving while we were still halfway through installing engines.
Transports too damaged to salvage were disposed of pragmatically. We dropped around forty mega-transports directly into the atmosphere of the Imperial planet, using them as artificial meteors. They struck primitive cities with devastating force, erasing large portions of their populated areas. Those ships could no longer be used by the Imperium, and the planet held no strategic value for us.
When all work was finished and the captured transports were equipped with curvature engines, we began the return trip. We followed exactly the same route we had taken to arrive.
Though there were some problems due to accumulated damage, nothing prevented us from completing the journey.
Throughout the voyage, I remained deep in thought.
I had spent fifteen years pushing myself to the limit: managing resources, calibrating the economy, reforming bureaucracy, training without rest… And still, I had barely survived against a single Greater Daemon.
It was an uncomfortable truth.
There was very little I could do to increase my psionic power now that my index had stabilized. Without access to terrazine, there was no real way to keep expanding it. And if we were in the future, maybe—just maybe—there would be a terrazine source somewhere in this region of space.
If I could find a stable source, I could risk taking microdoses more frequently. It would increase my abilities… at the risk of madness or addiction.
-----------------------------
If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
-------------------------------