An Unexpected Windfall

The Blackrock had spent roughly two months in the Warp—or at least, that was how much time had passed according to the ship's internal records.

Barnabas sat upright on the Command Throne on the bridge, doing his utmost to keep the Blackrock, his flagship, running. In those two months, he hadn't slept for more than twenty minutes at a time. The mortal crew worked in shifts, but he only leaned back on the throne and entered a light sleep. The slightest disturbance would wake him.

A mortal would have been crushed by such an intense workload long ago. But the Astartes had an organ implanted in their brains called a Neural Node. It could activate when signs of sleep deprivation appeared, allowing an Astartes to meet his needs with only a short period of light sleep. If necessary, he could even stay awake indefinitely, until he literally worked himself to death from a chain of physical problems such as metabolic abnormalities, impaired blood circulation, brain damage, and organ failure.

Peter had appointed him Lord of Fleets, even though he currently had only one ship. But he was indeed its highest-ranking commander, and by the rules of the Forged Steel Brethren War Band, even if he ordered Peter to undertake a boarding action with no chance of survival, Peter would have to obey.

But he wouldn't give such an order lightly. They were brothers, and he didn't want anyone making an unnecessary sacrifice. That was also why he wore the relatively outdated MK2 Expeditionary Power Armour, leaving the superior Power Armour to his brothers in the hope that they would survive the fighting. The Lord of Fleets usually had no need to board enemy ships or repel boarders. His battlefield was the command bridge, in the void.

Barnabas kept his eyes on the data streaming across the screens, using it to monitor the ship's condition. Suddenly, he noticed an anomaly. At the same moment, the Auspex Officer spoke up.

"My lord, we've detected dissipating plasma off our starboard side. It appears to be engine residue. Two ships passed through here recently."

The Auspex Officer reported in haste. Barnabas thought, A good Auspex Officer. He only noticed it a moment after I did.

"What type of ships, and what's their firepower?"

"Probably small or medium-sized vessels. Their destination may be the same as ours. We'll need to get closer to gather more information before we can analyze them further."

It was much the same conclusion Barnabas had reached. This was precisely how he meant to train his senior officers. When the fleet was in battle, he wouldn't have the time to micromanage every detail. His subordinates would have to make their own calls.

Barnabas stroked his beard and considered the situation.

The Blackrock was a Shortsword-class Frigate. Its firepower might be mediocre, but it was relatively fast. There were only two small vessels ahead. That was far too few for a navy fleet, so that seemed unlikely. And since they were headed roughly the same way, catching up would be easy. Enemy or not, they could fight or flee. They had the initiative.

"Pursue them."

The Captain issued the order.

The helmsman below received it and immediately adjusted course.

In an unknown star system, space in the void began to shudder violently, and the Material Universe tore open. Two ships emerged from the Warp, with the gates of the Empyrean slowly closing behind them. But just as the Warp was about to vanish from the physical universe, another ship shot out after them.

Captain Borislav Charter was in a panic. He'd been making a routine Warp journey with an armed freighter and a Rogue-class Freighter when, for no apparent reason, a ship had started tailing them. Borislav had tried again and again to shake it off, but every attempt had failed. He'd risked dropping out of the Warp, but even as they made their hasty exit, the other ship had followed.

Only now did Borislav realize that the ship pursuing them was a Shortsword-class Frigate, one of the smaller frigates in the Navy. Even so, his two freighters stood no chance against it.

The Communications Officer reported:

"Captain, the other ship is requesting communications."

Borislav was at a loss. He had no idea what the other ship wanted, but it didn't appear to bear any marks of Chaos, so he could rule that out.

"Put them through."

At the Captain's words, the Projector on the bridge activated, casting the image of a helmeted Astartes.

"Imperial vessel, we are the Forged Steel Hands Chapter, currently carrying out a mission. I order you to deactivate your Void Shields and weapons lock. We will board and inspect your ship."

Captain Borislav looked to the Auspex Officer, who shook his head.

"My lord, our databanks contain no information on your ship. We also had no idea that a Space Marine Chapter was operating in this region."

To be safe, he signaled the Master of Ordnance to unlock the weapons. There was no good reason to provoke them.

"We are a Fleet-based Chapter, carrying out a pursuit. I now order you to deactivate your Void Shields and allow us to board and search your ship."

"My lord, that's not protocol."

Captain Borislav panicked. Letting unknown people aboard was a terrible idea, especially when they were a group of Space Marines.

"If you refuse, we will use Boarding Torpedoes."

The other side clearly had no intention of negotiating. They dropped that line and ended the call.

They were going to board by force. It was over. Borislav wondered whether he should fight back. With their firepower, they had little chance, but they might be able to shoot down the other ship's boarding torpedoes.

But attack a group of Space Marines? If he dared, he'd be doomed either way. And if he didn't fight back, was he supposed to just let them board?

As he hesitated, gritting his teeth, the other ship launched its torpedoes.

The Master of Ordnance asked:

"Captain, we can lock onto the boarding torpedoes again. What should we do?"

Borislav was sweating profusely. What should they do? He wanted to know that himself. Fight back and die; run and they wouldn't get away. Was he supposed to let them board and search the ship, slaughtering his crew?

"Captain, two minutes until impact."

They had already inspected the ship and found it clean. The cargo was legal, too. But what if there really was something in one of the holds? What if an important fugitive was hiding aboard? He couldn't even imagine what crime would make the Space Marines hunt someone down.

"Captain, this is your last chance. Ten, nine, eight, seven, five, four, three, two, one."

The Master of Ordnance despairingly counted down the last chance to fight back.

It was over. There was no time left to retaliate. A dull thud rang through the hull as the enemy's boarding torpedo punched into the ship.

Borislav wiped away the sweat with his sleeve.

"It's fine. The ship is clean. Tell the Sailors on the other ship to meet them and help with the inspection."

Borislav thought, It'll be fine. My papers are in order, and the cargo is legal. They'll inspect the ship and then leave.

Even if there really was a fugitive on his ship, he could let them take the man. They might accidentally kill a few crew members along the way, but if the crew just kept their heads down, the Space Marines would leave once they were done.

He'd saved up enough money, too. After delivering this batch of cargo, he could go home and get married. As he thought about it, Borislav unconsciously took a photo pendant from around his neck and opened it, gazing at the young woman inside.

"Vanessa, wait for me to come home."