The Black

"Admiral on deck!" the sharp bellow resounded through the military hospital's sparsely populated waiting room. The Program's Master at Arms was not a man to be trifled with, and his tone bore even less of its customary lack of patience. Elise and Kirese stood to attention instantly, despite their haunting state of dress. Both were covered in a now mostly dried mixture of Delmar and Human blood, and their faces failed to conceal their confused, distraught expressions.

Sergeant Major Balayan Keer took only a moment to size up his graduates before stepping to the side, holding the door for Admiral Grarzia's entrance. Both graduates stiffened visibly at the surprise of the visit, but Mac simply waved away their reaction, "As you were." He ordered, voice cold but still refusing to stand on ceremony, "You two were the first on the scene?"

"Aye," Kirese answered almost involuntarily, "Uh… we heard weapons fire. Elise called it in when we responded."

"I see," Admiral Grarzia settled into a chair opposite the two, indicating with a hand for them to do the same, "Start from the top, graduates."

"We got the lockdown orders, but we were out by the shore." Elise began, "We comm'd Xanith first, but could not make contact. Vincent answered, but did not know anything more than we did. We were offered a place to meet and check in, and began making our way there…"

"Elise and I made it there first, and were waiting for Vincent and Miran, the woman who offered, when we heard gunshots." Kirese almost began to continue, but something changed in the Admiral's face that stopped her cold.

Those hard, piercing ice blues seemed to instantly soften slightly, and his gaze flickered toward the door slightly before returning to the two of them, "Continue, please." He said softly.

"We made it to the escalators," Elise continued, "Someone had disabled them, and we had to climb them manually… It took too long, far too long. When we arrived, we saw them." The diminutive Parisian girl's shoulders shook slightly as she fought for control.

Kirese laid a hand on her friend's shoulder, squeezing it before turning to face the admiral, "We saw Vincent first, his side seriously wounded, and he was covered in blood. He passed out without saying anything… then we found Xanith and Miran. Miran was shot thought the chest, front to back… Xanith was… it looked like he had been mauled by an animal. We found both a Vorath and human daggers still stuck in him. We gave our Nanites to both of…" Kirese paused, the Doors opening as a single doctor entered the waiting area.

"Admiral Grarzia, I was told you were coming." The older Delmar man reached out without hesitation, shaking the Admirals hand. "I assume it is regarding our patients?"

"It is," The blue-eyed Admiral answered. "Can you give me an update?"

"I can," the Doctor answered, "The Delmar female is in the best shape. It appears a full syringe of emergency nanotech was injected directly into her wound. While the wound would have normally been mortal, the nanites stabilized her quickly. She has come out of surgery and is being prepped for BioBed therapy. We expect a full recovery within the week."

Mac nodded, "Thank you, doctor," he turned quickly and marched up to the Sergeant Major still standing spine straight by the door. "Sarn't Major," Mac could see the storm boiling just behind the iron discipline holding the man in place. With a word, he released him, "Dismissed." The towering mountain of a Delmar blinked twice, sagging almost imperceptibly, "Go, we will manage. I'll call for an escort." Sergeant Major Keer locked eyes with his Admiral, then snapped a crisp salute before bolting toward the doors the doctor had just entered from.

Mac turned with a heavy sigh, returning to where the two confused roommates remained seated in stunned silence. The Doctor stepped up and took a seat with them, "The Human male, Vincent, is currently in biobed therapy. Outside of the heavy lacerations to his side, the rest of his injuries are relatively minor."

"What made him do that… to Xan?" Elise's voice broke at the question, "Xan was right with me earlier… We were having a great time at the sands… I liked him… What Vincent did to him…"

"Elise, we don't know what happened," Kirese whispered, trying to console her friend, "We didn't see what happened. We need time to..

"He butchered him!!! What else do we need to know!!!" Elise struck out, tears flowing freely now. "NOBODY deserves that!! What could Xan have possibly done to deserve being ripped to pieces?"

Silence fell in the room, and Kirese pulled her petit friend into a tight embrace. She dared not speak, because her friend had a point. Xanith was a friend, but so was Vincent… her mind wandered back to some of the hints the human programees had dropped about Vincent's violent nature, and her doubt began to creep just under the surface when a discreet cough interrupted the heavy building aura.

"I believe I may have an answer to that." The doctor answered, pulling up a pad, "We've made a few troubling discoveries operating on Xanith…. Modifications to his hormonal and endocrine systems… They are likely the reason Xanith is still alive. His body was heavily modified, and it was done some time ago. It appears that great pains were taken to hide those modifications. We also found this embedded in Xanith's Cerebral Cluster." The aging lab-coated Delmar pulled up an image of a small cylinder on a specimen tray, with small, hairlike tendrils extending several inches out of each end. "It's a recording device, and we were able to decipher it using a Vorath codex algorithm." The Doctor pulled up the file and began the playback.

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Vincent groaned, pulling lightly against the invisible restraints, "Please remain calm, Lieutenant. We need to restrain you for a few minutes longer." A slightly garbled voice cut through the anastatic haze. Unfortunately, with the return of his consciousness, the pain also returned. Soon enough, a dulling flush announced the arrival of the nano tech to his slashed nerves.

A few minutes passed before Vincent's head fully cleared, only for the events in the tram car to come flooding back to him, "Doctor, there was a woman with me. Do you know what happened to her?" his dry throat punctuated the question by forcing a racking cough.

"Nanites have completed their work." The Doctor stated, "I've removed your restraints, Lieutenant, but I advise rest and light duty for the next week or so. As you know, Biobed technology is only almost miraculous. Let your body do the rest."

"Thank you, Doctor." Vincent murmured, slowly rising to sit off the edge of the bed. The Doctor, a human woman, handed him a glass of water, but Vincent only took a small sip. "The Woman, a gunshot victim. Did she survive?"

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant." She turned to hand him a freshly fabbed replacement for his clothes, "Your clothes were destroyed whilst working on you. If your gunshot victim survived, she will be in recovery." She pointed towards the door, "down the hall to the left, you can inquire at the desk."

"I see." A stone fell in Vincent's gut. Miran was an innocent, and whatever the hell He was mixed up in should never have bled over into her life. And it not only bled into her life… She had been targeted by… by his roommate, someone he considered a trusted friend. Someone who fooled him… Vincent racked his brain, what had he told Xan, what had Xan seen? Would anyone even believe him? The last moments of the fight between Xan and himself were brutal, and even now, Vincent struggled to remember details.

"Sir? How may I help you?" a bright Delmar female voice drew him back to reality, and Vincent found himself standing next to the desk cluster down the hall. "Sir, are you well?" the same formerly cheerful, now concerned voice asked.

"Vin…" No, now is not a time to hide. "Leftenant Vincent Burgoyne," He stated with firm formality, "I'm looking for a young woman, Delmar. She would have arrived with a gunshot wound to the chest."

The Delmar nurse's eyes widened at both his name and his tone, and she quickly began checking her console. "Uh, let me see, lieutenant…I don't see any programee's in with those wounds. I'm sorry."

"I'll take it from here." A familiar barrel-chested voice stopped Vincent, and had him stiffening in place despite the pain the sudden tightening of his core still caused. Sergeant Major Balayan Keer stepped up to the desk, "On me, Graduate." The towering Master at arms ordered, and Vincent instantly turned to follow. Keer and Vincent did not have anything close to a friendship. The Master at Arms, a Veteran of the fighting on Rawkir, was also responsible for a large portion of the combatives, and Keer chose to keep a firmly professional relationship with all of his trainees.

"Sergeant Major Keer, I," Vincent paused, and they walked in silence a bit further, "What's going on."

"I was hoping you could tell me, graduate," The Towering Delmar rumbled, stopping the two of them at a biobed room. Inside lay the last person Vincent wanted to find. There were three medical technicians inside, and Xanith was lying motionless on the biobed.

No, not motionless… restrained Vincent realized, recognizing the flexing arm and bulging neck veins that accompanied the open screaming mouth and crazed eyes. The room itself was soundproofed from the outside, but the window was still transparent. Vincents former friend and roommate happened to look over towards the clear acrylic, redoubling his rage crazed shouting, fighting against the restraints until one of the techs walked over and tapped on the controls that turned the window opaque.

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Vincent never heard a sound, but he didn't need to. He could tell what Xan was screaming at him, Burgoyne. He glanced up at the Master at Arms, who was still watching him, waiting, "I… I don't know, Sarge." He admitted finally, and Keer waved a hand, indicating to continue down the hall, "We were supposed to meet at Miran's, the woman's, apartment, to check in. She's a waitress at the shoreside place we all go to. Miran and I were at a local park, and got on the tram together." Vincent sighed heavily. "When we got to the tram-stop all hell broke loose… I think Xan shot her. I know he attacked me, but so much of it is still a blur."

"I see," Keer hummed, and paused as they arrived at another room, this one with an opaque window. "That tracks with what we've found so far." He waved a keycard over the door sensor, and the room's door opened in front of them. Vincent glanced in, a boulder sinking in his gut. Miran lay motionless on the bed, covered in a blanket up to her neck, with a much paler complexion than a healthy Delmar upon her features. For a moment, Vincent held his breath, only to release it when she moved, taking shallow, tentative breaths, turning her head to meet her new visitors.

Recognition arrived, and a weak smile flickered onto her features. "You live." She croaked. Vincent found himself stepping quickly to her bedside, "I wasn't sure… so much blood."

"I could say the same," Vincent whispered, taking the weakly offered hand, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got shot… It sucks," she wrasped, "water?" Vincent reached for an already filled bedside cup, letting her drink from it before returning it to its resting place. "Why? Xan?"

Vincent gritted his teeth, "I don't know,.. You got caught in the middle of this, and I don't know."

"I think we do." Vincent snapped to surprised attention as Admiral Grarzia walked in, followed by a relieved Delmar female and a worryingly somber diminutive Parisian human. "As you were, Lieutenant Burgoyne." The blue-eyed admiral ordered with a dismissive wave, instead producing a data pad. "The surgeons operating on Graduate Xanith made several unpleasant discoveries." The Admiral tapped on the pad, "His body was heavily modified, then surgically altered to hide those modifications. We have found similar procedures done to some of the older individuals rescued from the indoctrination/ training camps." A small hologram activated between them. "His brain was also augmented with a recording device of some kind." The Hologram changed to a playback.

Over the next few minutes, the recordings flowed, first showing the murder of a fellow graduate who also received special orders, followed by his stalking of Kirese and Elise, then finishing up with his ambush of Miran and Vincent. Vincent shifted uncomfortably, being forced to watch himself in the brutal attack through the eyes of his attacker. It was almost like watching someone who wasn't him, yet he knew the crazed individual carving into Xanith was not someone else. Finally, the playback closed, and the Admiral tucked the pad under his arm. "Lieutenant, I think I can safely call your actions nothing short of heroic, if possibly a little excessive. That said, you could not have known that anything less than your brutal offense would have allowed Xanith to remain a threat, considering the heavily modified state of his body." Mac concluded, "With this in mind, I am not rescinding your orders. I still require your services, Lieutenant Burgoyne." The Human admiral paused, glancing at the bed, "Unless you require time to settle any personal…"

"No…" The room fell silent, and Miran groaned as she pushed herself up to a slightly more seated position. "Can you guys give us a moment?" Slowly, everything filed out, leaving just Vin and Miran. Miran pulled Vincent weakly to sit on the bed next to her, "Vin, you fought for me tonight, saved my life, but I know why you're here." Her eyes bored into his, "I…I won't take that away from you."
Vincents shoulders fell, "I'm sorry you had to see that. Then relive it. I dragged you into all this by accident. You shouldn't have to put your…"

"Don't," Miran scolded, pulling his forehead to hers, "I got to see you, the real you, no mask. I want to explore this between us, but this War needs the real you. Many more than I need another Burgoyne roaming the void." She let his forehead slip past her until she was whispering in his ear, "Go, be you. Help end this war." she pressed her lips to the base of his jaw, letting out a resonating humming purr, "Then come back to me." With that, she released a wide-eyed Vincent, settling back into her pillow and pressing the call button on the bed.

The group returned, and Vincent remained seated, still holding Miran's hand. He held Mirans eyes for a moment longer before standing to face Mackenzie, "I'm still fit for the mission, if you'll have me, Admiral."

Mac raised an eyebrow before shrugging, "Very well. I'm pushing your arrival at Port Royal by two weeks to allow for recovery. You have your orders, Lieutenant."

Moments later, a Delmar nurse stepped in, walking smoothly up to the biobed to check on Miran's vitals, "Ok, that's enough. Everyone out. The Patient needs her rest." Miran gave Vin's hand a final squeeze before he and the rest were shooed from the room.

The 4 made way down the corridor. Vincent's eyes half glazed over in thought, only to be interrupted by a muscular hand on Vin's shoulder, "I guess, you're the Human she keeps talking about." Vin turned to Sergeant Major Keer in confusion then surprise as the implication registered.

"We have a human saying, Sarn't Major," Mac chuckled, turning to Vincent, smiling as the realization threatened to blow Young Vincent Burgoyne clean over. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

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Vincent and Kirese stepped off the transport shuttle to Port Royal two weeks later. It was a bittersweet moment. Despite recent events, Xanith's absence was felt, along with Elise's. Kerise's human roommate was close to Xan, at least the Xan she knew, and couldn't bring herself to be around Vincent after seeing the footage. It was a harsh reality, but one that proved not entirely unexpected. Vincent had spent most of his extra two weeks first at Miran's bedside, then at a combination of her family's home and out as he finally began to let someone in for the first time. In the end, only Vincent and Kirese had received the orders to report to Port Royal. So, farewells were said, and the two of them departed for where they now stood.

"Lieutenant Burgoyne? Ms. Kirese?" A tall ebony-skinned Human in Sol Naval Uniform approached them with calm, confident steps before extending a hand in greeting, "Philip Kenye, Commander of Porty Royal, Admiral Grarzia has spoken highly of both of you, welcome aboard." He shook their hands in turn before continuing, "I wanted to greet you personally, this way."

The three began walking along the Promenade. "This is my first time on Port Royal." Kirese admitted, "I was brought straight to the planet on Louise when they rescued me and my crew from SwiftSure. Impressive."

"Ah, Hera's boat. The privateers have been busy as of late. Thank you for the compliment, I regret that you will not be able to stay long enough to fully explore Port Royal, but perhaps another time." Philip smiled, "For now, the admiral is awaiting us at your destination." The Sudanese Officer halted them at a central lift, offering them the platform before typing in a code, "Fair winds, and may good fortune follow." He offered just before activating the lift.

The Turbolift whirred, ascending the central spire of Port Royal until the two of them reached the observation deck at its highest point. Doors parted, revealing Admiral Grarzia along with two familiar faces and two new ones. "Jacob! Hera!" Kirese reacted, stepping quickly over into a pair of warm embraces, "What are you doing here! Uh, Oh. Um, Admiral?" Kirese amended with a quick salute and an abashed smile.

"Admiral Grarzia. Lieutenant Burgoyne reporting as ordered." Vincent snapped off a sharp salute, which Mac returned. "I must admit that this was not where I expected to be briefed.

"I've been called 'unorthodox' by many. I have a reputation to uphold." Mac responded with a sly smile, and Vincent raised an eyebrow at the mischief behind that icy blue gaze. "But alas, to business." He produced a pair of pads, "This is your full briefing. The rest of the crew is being briefed by Comandant Silu as we speak, but I wanted to be the one to brief the two of you, and to make introductions." Mac waved the two new faces forward, "I would like you to meet Engineer Chiefs Patrick and Camorra, the best of either fleet. They will be your right hands for what we must pull off. They are formerly of USN Olyvia, and they will be missed, but Captain Correllus will have to make due." The two engineers shook hands in turn with Vin and Kirese before the admiral produced his own pad, and activated its holographic function, which immediately drew a sharp breath from Kirese.

She reached for the hologram on reflex, "SwifSure." She turned to the admiral in shocked apprehension, "She lives?"

"In a manner of speaking," Grarzia answered. "We confirmed her location with a slipspace probe 3 days ago." Mac swapped the hologram to a map, "We have hard intel that Admiral Karmarin and Captain Harrison have made successful contact with the Kri', and that USN Galveston is currently in orbit or near enough to, the Kri' homeworld." He zoomed into the far side of the Galaxy, "We have another slipspace probe en route, but it will not reach them for another few weeks, and I do not believe we have time to await a return message." He turned to Vincent and Kirese, "Your mission is simple, You will recover the Derelict Delmar Freighter known as Swifsure, retrofit her for slipspace travel, and use her to carry autofabs and material to the Kri' homeworld to rendezvous with Galveston to begin or continue to spin up the Kri' to our standards under the guidance of Karmarin and Harrison. This will be a long mission, with no defined return date." Admiral Grarzia admitted, "But I believe the two of you are equal to the task. Should you succeed, we may be able to make permanent strides in breaking the stalemate between us and the Vorath.

Vincent and Kirese took several moments to scan through their own pads, "Admiral, I do not mean to be obtuse, but how are we going to pull this off. One errant patrol, one stroke of bad luck, and it could blow the entire operation?

"That is where you and I come in." Captain Hera stepped up. "Louse will be accompanying you to Swiftsure, with half of the cargo and crew we are sending to the Kri'. You're command will hold the balance, and we will be working as escort and security while we refit SwifSure at sea, if you will. I will be departing for Delmar once the refit is complete. Your command will continue with SwifSure to Kri' space."

Vincent's mind ground to a halt, "I beg your pardon, My command?" He looked incredulously between Hera and Mac just before a shadow passed over the observation deck. Vincent looked up, his eyes widening at the ludicrous nature of what he was beholding. A Vorath capital ship, gleaming and new, hovered above them. "You're kidding!" Vincent turned to face Admiral Grarzia, whose shoulder shook slightly in suppressed laughter.

"I am not. Kirese will be needed to command her father's vessel once she's repaired. We will need a fake "escort" should you run into trouble." Mac said at last, his voice hardening, "She was the flagship of an armada that tried to murder Delmar herself." Vincent's face blanked, now recognizing the vessel from the recordings sent home… along with condolences from the man standing before him. "Yes, the same attack that took your father, Vin. She has been retrofitted. She is fully Slip capable, with Sol pattern reactors. All her heavy laser and plasma batteries have been refitted with PACs, and her planet killer has been replaced with a pair of center-mounted 1005s. She's yours, Captain Burgoyne, but there is one last thing she needs." Vincent's gaze pulled itself from the Admiral, turning back to watch the Massive Vorath Warship, HIS Vorath Warship, slip up to one of the upper docking rings as Mac continued, "She needs a name."

Memories flooded Vincent's mind, the rare, precious memories of his father on leave, the time they spent… and a smile slowly spread across the Young man's face. Captain Vincent Burgoyne turned back to his admiral, remembering the one trip he and his father made to Terra, to visit the old country his family hailed from. He remembered a special dock tour of a certain 104 gun tall ship from a very different navy.

"Victory," Captain Vincent Burgoyne answered at last, turning to face Admiral James Mackenzie Grarzia with a fierce smile, quickly matched as Mac recognized the name. "Her name, is Victory."