Tsaimath

Black Sky - Chapter 36

The last few minutes of our approach were nerve-wrecking. Part of me wanted some stealthy ships jump out of some sort of concealment, trying to ambush us, just so action would overtake the nervous waiting part of the mission. I mentally kept switching between the feed coming from my sensors, to the feed from the Merathorn, trying to see if the automatic routines run by the computer had missed anything that might be a hint. 

After a minute of frantic searching, I forcib...

Chapter 273

“Wake up, sleepyhead.” a voice in my head shook me from the comfortable cocoon of warmth that I had lost myself in. I hadn’t been asleep, not for some time, but there simply hadn’t been a reason for me to start moving. When I had woken up, I had been snuggled up to Sigmir, with the furs we used as bedding wrapped around the two of us. Listening to Sigmir’s breathing, I was sure that she was still sleeping, the darkness around us lending credit to the idea, so I had rest...

Black Sky - Chapter 35

Over the next two weeks, I realised that I might have made a mistake by asking for the simulations and manuals on the larger ship-types. Commodore Ryker seemed to enjoy putting me into a frigate or even a corvette, using simulated crew to fill in the gaps. While it was possible to pilot a frigate in combat without additional help, trying to do the same in a corvette would be almost impossible. Intellectually, I knew that the cross-training was a good thing, that it would be in my file as addi...

Chapter 272

As long as I remained in the Astral River, keeping the platform on the cusp of the Nexus we used to sit stable, the Grandmother was content to teach me. Holding the platform together was easy at first but the strain on my mind, the need to keep me anchored to my Avatar back in the forest, my mind anchored at that particular spot of the Astral River and the platform anchored to me, was mounting, slowly but surely. I also understood that, if I failed I would be in trouble. I wasn�...

Black Sky - Chapter 34

Regrettably, the simulated Merathorn had no sense of humour but, given that it was just a simulation, that was to be expected. After the verbal identification, there was a short, moment of data-transfer as highly complex identification-schemes were exchanged by the computers, making sure that both sides were who they claimed to be. While the Tellurians had never employed false-flag operations, pirates wouldn’t hesitate to attempt such a ploy, so it was part of the standard prot...

Chapter 271

I needed a moment to even form a coherent thought in my mind, the sheer awe I felt at the being next to me stunning me. I knew the being, the voice familiar but despite that fact, I needed a moment to gather myself. Even the connection to my body shook, the urge to simply let go and lose myself in the experience tugging at me. 

“Greetings, Grandmother.” I managed to say, my voice vibrating in a strange yet beautiful manner. It was similar to the manner of speaking ...

Black Sky - Chapter 33

Walking up to the bridge at the beginning of my shift gave me a strange feeling. I had been inside once, moving through it on the way to the captain’s private briefing room, but back then, I had hardly been in the frame of mind to take a good look around. I knew some of the cadets working on the bridge and I knew the voices of the tactical officers who had directed Carmine-Squadron during our missions outside, in the void, but now, I was supposed to move into their space and ge...

Black Sky - Chapter 32

Flying a frigate was fun, plain and simple. The way the Stingray, the current frigate-class vessel in Federation-Service, was set up was relatively simple, it was an attempt to create a force-projection, albeit a relatively light one, with the smallest possible about of material and personal. While the Raptor-class Starfighters had a hyperdrive as well and could, in theory, be used to make multiple jumps the idea to be sealed in the cockpit for days on end was not a pleasant one ...

Black Sky - Chapter 31

I got to flight-country early and it was surprisingly quiet, compared to the madhouse it had been over the last few days. The technicians were working on our Starfighters and a quick count told me that all fifteen remaining Starfighters were accounted for. That meant nobody was out there or in the tubes, so we were most likely in hyperspace and mostly safe.

“Cadet Horn, if you would step into my office?” Commodore Ryker asked. Not that it was really a question, he was m...

Chapter 270

Walking over to the stream, I decided to make myself comfortable. Sure, it might be more traditional to sit on the earth, with my legs crossed but I had no idea how long I was going to need. In addition, the ground was still rather wet, which would just add to the discomfort. No, I could easily work in style and comfort. Drawing my Athame and channelling my Astral Power through the gem set into its pommel allowed me to create runes using less Astral Power without reducing their e...

Black Sky - Chapter 30

Waking up from a pleasant, if slightly embarrassing dream featuring Airah, my roommate from the Academy wasn’t too bad, especially compared to the way I had felt the day before. Sitting in my Starfighter the whole shift had left me a little stiff but that was nothing I couldn’t work out with some light exercise before my shift. Knowing that I’d either need a shower before or after, I didn’t even bother to change my ship-suit, simply grabbing my helmet and heading over to ...

Black Sky - Chapter 29

I felt like I had been put through the wringer when I woke up. The soreness of the workout Wildcat had proscribed joined with the wool that filled my head from having my sleep-schedule violently disrupted to make me miserable. But I had slept reasonably well and with my shift right around the corner, I would have to manage.

After a quick stop in the mess, I walked into the fighter-area, getting there just as Wildcat was arriving as well. She looked tired but gave me a frien...

Chapter 269

We spent the rest of the day moving away from the centaur-territory, slowly creeping through the forest. It would have been faster if we had taken the old imperial road but we were not quite ready to do that, the chance that a centaur-group might use it to catch us too high for us to risk it. We might have been able to beat whatever the centaurs could have thrown at us on short notice but I wasn’t fond of the word “might” in that sentence. I had no doubt that, if the centau...

Black Sky - Chapter 28

When I got back to the Merathorn, I felt strange. Part of me was still feeling as if I was dreaming, a dream within a dream, that I was still sleeping in my bunk. That I hadn’t killed a few people, necessary as it had been. I recognised the feeling, knowing that it was false but it remained, lodged somewhere in the back of my mind.

The time I had spent in the dark, looking for possible survivors hadn’t helped any, the isolation only adding to my discomfort. Getting out ...

Chapter 268

“Can you show me what is going on?” I mentally asked Lenore who I felt nearby. Her response was lacking in words, merely a feeling of affirmation but she made it up with a condensed version of her memory allowing me to see what she had observed during the time I had been unconscious in mere seconds. The rapid absorption of information meant that I wouldn’t be able to fully remember the details but for now, I knew enough.

When I had fallen unconscious, Sigmir had react...

Black Sky - Chapter 27

“Damage-Report.” Manta’s calm voice ordered over our group-channel and I quickly checked that my Starfigther hadn’t been hit. My instruments showed all green, so I reported that back, while listening to Wildcat and Wolverine do the same. It was mostly formality, giving the group-leader a secondary input and possibly a small window in their pilots mind, the primary reporting was made by our computers over a direct link. While the link wasn’t perfect and could be jammed i...

Black Sky - Chapter 26

If I would have to describe the situation I was launched in with a single word, it would be trouble. The pirates had instantly recognised that the Merathron had more than enough firepower to introduce them to the wonderful experience of explosive decompression and their only chance was to pull something out of any orifice that might keep us occupied. And they were checking their orifices, hard. In fact, I wouldn’t have been too surprised if an old-fashioned steel kitchen sink c...

Black Sky - Chapter 25

I was ripped from a wonderful dream by a penetrating sound, waking up to feel disoriented and confused. My mind took a few seconds to switch from a deep sleep into something akin to wakefulness but the sounds I was hearing sped up the process, my body conditioned to respond to them with a generous dose of adrenaline. It was a call to general quarters, meaning that it was either an unannounced drill or somewhere, a rotary air impeller had been hit by the brown matter. Whichever it...

Black Sky - Chapter 24

"Poyekhali!", “Off we go!” as a notation said, translating the words of the first human in space, those were the first words of the actual legacy. But before I could even read further than the speech that man had given after returning to the Earth, I realised that I wouldn’t be able to read the legacy, maybe not even in a lifetime, if I simply started at the beginning and went from there, instead, I would have to look at an index or something like that. Or I could start fro...

Chapter 267

I logged back into Road to Purgatory just as my unconscious-debuff was about to run out, allowing me to regain consciousness. Waiting, surrounded by darkness, I was able to consider the things I had done during the forced time-out. It hadn’t been a long time in the real world, just enough time to check the forums and skim some more through Mrs. Wu’s interesting book about assassination, realising that it was collated in a fascinating way. 

The first part of the boo...

Black Sky - Chapter 23

Over the next few days, the anti-piracy scenarios continued and I was slowly managing to climb in rank in the Squadron. It was my biggest focus, even if there were a few questions lingering in the back of my mind, prompted by the interview on the Fleet Station. One was why the interview had been so focused on Commodore Ryker, was it just because he was the commanding officer on the scene, or rather because he was my direct commanding officer and thus the only one I could possibly...

Black Sky - Chapter 22

“You look tired.” Kaylen stated as he placed his tray on the table across from me before sitting down. I looked up, only now noticing that he and Emerson had approached and were looking at me with a bit of concern in their eyes. 

“Why, thank you, how nice of you to notice. It is always nice to compliment a lady’s looks, you know?” I managed to snark before a yawn slipped past my control, forcing me to cover my mouth or they could have examined me for cavities...

Interlude - Forum: Questions about Kolyug

Official Road to Purgatory-Beta Forum

• Tarrin, confirmed Beta-Account

Hey Guys

A question to all those who are adventuring in the far north of Aretia, I know there are a few of us up here. Do you know what the everloving hell is going on in the area around Kolyug? Over the last few weeks, things have been getting fucking weird.

I’ve been hunting in the north for some time, moving around the mountain-range, I think the...

Black Sky - Chapter 21

The weirdness didn’t stop after our visit at Fleet Station-Calmaru. I managed to get some sleep before I was required to be back on shift and when I had breakfast, for me, in the mess, I learned some interesting information. Apparently, the constant drills of the last week wouldn’t continue, instead things were back to normal. The other cadets were mostly relieved about that, the drills had been straining, even if we had learned a great deal and return to normal was appreciat...

Black Sky - Chapter 20

When I got back to the shuttle, Commander Siloh and Lieutenant Wirum were already there, waiting, while the rest was nowhere to be seen. I took a seat after a short greeting but after that, a short gesture from Commander Siloh made me remain quiet. I was still trying to figure out just what was going on, why an interview about an unknown ship attacking our starfighters and destroying human spacecrafts had focused so much on Commodore Ryker and his decisions and I was failing hard...

Chapter 266

By sheer strength of will and stubbornness, I refused to stumble, setting one foot in front of the other, not wanting to have Sigmir carry me out of yet another town. While my body was stressed and weakened, my magic was thrumming with power, the excess Astral Power forced into me by the backlash slowly draining into the world around me, forming a shimmering mist. That imbalance between body and magic might have been what caused a curious effect in my mind, making me feel rather ...

Black Sky - Chapter 19

Sitting in that white room, with nothing to do but look at the perfectly uniform white walls was, quite frankly, about as close as I had ever come to experiencing the mythological concept of hell. Trying to keep track of time was difficult, my heartbeat and breath the only sound that I could even attempt to count. Just to keep the silence at bay, I started a slow, rhythmic tap on the table, keeping tact with my heartbeat but even that helped only so much. 

Finally, aft...

Black Sky - Chapter 18

As it turned out, the training could be very hard. I had underestimated the length the two Commodores were willing to go, instead of just running us through the grinder in the simulator, they also put our noses to the grindstone in other ways. After that first shift of simulator-training, they added further parts to it, having to do with combat-drills on the ship. Somehow, they managed to get Captain Burris to sign off it and turned the Merathorn into their private torture-dungeo...

Black Sky - Chapter 17

I was shaking my head, trying to get my bearings after that last run through one of the scenarios. The whole shift had been filled with one brutal exercise after the other, wiping out the squadron time after time. During the evaluations, none of the pilots got away without leaving feathers, even Commodore Ryker, in my opinion the best pilot in both groups, had been destroyed again and again. The time in the nebula was only the first of many situations that had cost him his virtua...

Chapter 265

Somehow, the Universe had managed to surprise me. It had done so in a sneaky and wholly unexpected fashion, doing the one thing I hadn’t thought possible. Nothing happened during the rest of the evening and night.

Adra had continued to talk with the guard, a beastman named Moraak, for a while longer and learned that we were on the very edge of centaur-territory. If we continued further west, we would leave it, a revelation that made me breathe a sigh of relief. Unless the...