Sean-Michael Argo - Carrion Duty

“In that case, once we breach, I see at least four choke points that we’ll need to control.” Gage turned to Lelani Ursa. “How long we can give you to make the acquisition depends on the alacrity and ferocity of the station’s defenders. Port Authority will have a full cadre of cor-sec troopers ready to respond, and there’s no telling how many armed civilians might step up.”

“If we knock out their gravity drive that will certainly cause chaos and reduce their response time,” said Sokol pointing to the large compartment containing the station’s artificial gravity generator. “The Coyote class mechs can cope with void deployment, so we can move up the hull and hit it on the bounce as we move to the station’s main deck. That’s where most people will be, especially if we arrive during a shift change, say early night cycle. They’ll be forced to deal with us simultaneously. If we make enough of an entrance it could siphon off the bulk of the defenders.”

“All fine ideas. I expect a full analysis of data available and tactical proposals from each of you in transit,” said Kochi as he turned back to his instruments, “That will be enough for now, dismissed.”

The group went silent again, each considering the atrocity they were about to commit, and each of them finding the resolve to see it done. Sokol had killed more people than he could count, and he had stopped trying years ago. The life of a Fiat Lux ravager was a violent one, and beyond those rare few who joined the commune either from raids or happenstance, no outsiders were permitted to survive encounters with Fatalis . It was for this reason that the warship was something like a ghost story, a legendary predator lurking in necrospace, and Fiat Lux remained hidden.

We are just names on the Red List, unknown whereabouts and ignored on the fringes of space, where neglect is our ally, mused Sokol, as he considered their predicament, and we are about to appear from the darkness as hungry as we’ve ever been. He felt a sort of pity for the people of Andromeda Station, whose only sin was having a functioning life support system and existing close enough for the ravagers to reach them and return in time to save the commune. Brutal as this was about to be, there was a kind of desperate glory to it that filled him with a fierce sense of pride in his community.

While other groups might debate the moral ramifications of the proposed mission, or wrestle with the notion of taking the life of one community to preserve another, the people of Fiat Lux were nothing if not pragmatic. Every person in the commune had blood on their hands one way or the other, and it made sense to Sokol that they were part of the hideous Red List. On the drift, castoffs or runaways of the corporate system, living in the black where every day was a battle, whether that was against the elements or other people.

Fiat Lux had survived this long by becoming the largest predator in its immediate environment, only now that wasn’t enough, now they had to rise up and take from the feed hand that turned away from them.

Why should the Red Listers be expected to lay down and die while the corporatists cling to life, Sokol asked himself rhetorically, when they possessed the power to stand up for themselves?

The journey back to Andromeda Station had been completed without incident, and as Rhett attached a mooring cable to the outside of the bounty ship he was thankful to see it finished. They may not have had to fight for this haul, but everyone had felt the same oppressive dread when they were aboard the craft. It wasn’t so much that people had fought and died on board, that was common enough that most of the scrappers had little concern for such things. It was more about the unknown quality of the ship, as if the angles inside the craft were all wrong, as if a hostile and corrupting energy emanated from the very bones of the vessel. Strangely, it reminded Rhett of a convict he’d encountered during his time in the penal colony.

The man had been unassuming enough, looking much like the other convicts with his laser burned, hairless body and paper jumpsuit, and yet there was an energy about him that put everyone off. Some rumors whispered that he was a mass murderer, others that he was some kind of war criminal, and even others that he was a sexual predator. The man never spoke of his past, which was typical for the convicts of the colony and somewhat frowned upon by the enforcers at any rate, and that unknown made the sense of unease even worse. The man later died during a loader malfunction, and neither the convicts nor the enforcers did much to investigate the death, so relieved were all that whatever he had been was now gone.

Rhett thought of him every time he looked at the unnamed slave ship, and he was more than happy to be very nearly rid of the cursed thing. The yard master would now be finalizing the handoff forms with Captain Estrada, and within a few days the first bounty deposit would be paid to the Six . They’d get the rest of the reward once the ship was recovered by the client, which meant that it could sit in the dock for weeks before someone came to collect it. However, considering the size of the reward, Rhett doubted it would be more than a few days before someone arrived. Nobody would pay what had been offered and let the ship linger.

“I hope whoever put up the bounty for this collects soon,” said John as he locked in his mooring and clomped over the hull to where Rhett finished his work. “I’ve seen a few death ships in my day, but this one is bad news. Spend enough years on the job and you get that sense of things, I’m sure you know what I mean. I’d happily take a wreck full of angry squatters or pirates over this thing.”

“The AG16 was as bad as its been in a long time, but at least you can sort of feel better about it once the tech officer gives you some insight into what happened,” agreed Rhett as the two of them moved across the hull back to the ladder that would lead them into the crew deck area of the giant orbital ring that was the scrap yard. “Bio-hazards, toxic waste, desperate scavengers, that sort of thing you can face directly and overcome. Whatever happened on that ship, whatever cargo they were carrying, left something behind.”

“Grotto people are about as pragmatic as it gets, but every now and then you meet a salvage marine who ended up believing in ghosts,” said John as he stood aside to allow Rhett to climb the ladder ahead of him. “After this, I think I can see how that could happen.”

“All I know is that I’m not booking a room that has a view of the scrap yard,” Rhett stated as he ascended the ladder. He paused as he saw several tiny flashes in the distant darkness, well away from the lights of the station, “Did you see that?”

“I did,” breathed John, stopping at the base of the ladder, “Looked like...”

“Incoming! ” boomed the voice of Captain Estrada over the main channel, “ Brace for impact!”

As the captain spoke, Rhett could see the sharp thruster illumination of three void torpedoes as they streaked past the scrap yard and slammed into Andromeda Station. In an instant three powerful explosions tore gaping holes in the station.

At least two of them seemed to have each struck one of the handful of defensive batteries that served as a basic deterrent for pirates. The station’s short range guns weren’t enough to ward off a determined military grade opponent, but they were generally rated to be enough of a threat to lone pirate vessels that the armed scavengers kept well away. As the station continued its turn spinward, Rhett could see that the third torpedo had severely damaged the main docking bay of the station. As he watched, several smaller ships burst out of the bay, burning hard and not caring what further damage they caused by going full ignition from inside the bay.