Into the Darkness

The small man had approached Sepherim as he walked in the market, looking at the multiple objects in it and hearing his usual news feeds from the comm unit. Marbius Ardishapur. That was his name, and he was an influential member inside the imperial Academy, with both ties to the Emperor Family and the Ardishapur Family. An important political pilot, and rumours pointed to something deeper even. He handed Sepherim a small datanote and headed back into the crowd.

And the note changed everything. It was time to head Into the Darkness.
 
Sepherim fastened the straps around him in his pod as it started to fill itself with goo. The green slimy liquid seems to get attached to him, seeming to drain all the heat away. But he is used to it. The last messages are sent into the darkness of the IGS, to the appropriate individuals. Messages of greeting, of thanks, and of hope. They will meet agan.
 
But now, in front of them all, lies the darkness.
 
-Online and ready- comes the voice in the coms of one of the Acolytes.
-Very well. From now on, it is time to close all external links. Severe connections to the IGS and leave only contact with the other members of the wing.-
-Not even to the station and other Quaesitoris who have staid?- another Acolyte asks.
-Not even them. From now on, we are heading into the darkness, and dakness we shall be. Close in D formation as soon as you all leave the docks.-
 
"Farewell, sweet home. We will see again each other, if God wishes so" he thinks to himself, as the drones start to feed him the visual information on the docks. Mabnen, the Emperor Family Station, Home for months, was now to be left behind as they headed into the void. Against the ghosts of the past, into the shadows of the future.
 
Accelerate to 50. Stabilize left wing. Heat up pod 3 points. Start green tea feed. Close all doors. Visual drones to close circle. Accelerate 2 points, and maneuver 0.5 degrees left. A blast of cold hits me as the ship left the heat of the dock and enters the pressure chambers, prior to leaving the station. I always hated it, it is always almost unexpected. Cannons into active position. Motors accelerate to 60. Activate the fuel pumps of chamber 3. Activate doors into automatic position. The coldness of space is expected, but a thrill still is in my memory, both of expectance of the future and of the temperature drop from before.
 
-Ship in space. May God be with you, Lord Sepherim. Mabnen control out.-
 
How many times have I heard those words from Hench, the tower head controller? Accelerate to full speed. 40,7º to the left. Orientation Hedion Gate. Project voice to other ships in squadron: "ships, orientate to Hedion Gate. Warp in 3 seconds". Initiate warp motors, ETA 3 seconds. Cooling sent to the warp motors in advance. Turrets into frontal position.
 
The fleet of the Ordo Quaesitoris ships entered the detection of the gate Sargeant. Nothing strange, they had been going through it for months. Scans showed no illegal cargo, mostly food and different repair equipment. Nothing strange as they dissapeared through the gate... but the sargeant on the other side never confirmed arrival of any ships.
 
After double checking it twice, a file was filed to CONCORD's database. Ships had been lost in a malfunctioning gate, no brain patterns had been sent to the clone vats, so no clones activated. Hundreds of persons had just vanished in another gate error. Technicians would have to go over it.





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Behind the gate, the invisible ship disconnected the links to the gate and started to head outside. The hacking of the gate had been completed, as planned, and the coordinates of jump had been modified just for that small fleet that had gone through it. All according to plans.