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Exalted Permission
Title: Message for the Dead
Series:
Galaxy's Edge #8
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick
Cole
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre:
SF/Space Opera
Pages: 319
Words:
115.5K
From
Galaxysedge.fandom.com
Orbiting
Porcha, Keel and Exo say farewell as Exo and Bombassa leave the
Indelible VI, planning to return to their squad in the Dark Legion.
Keel does his best to remind Exo that before he was Dark legion, he
was Victory Company. Exo still has doubts about whether to trust the
House of Reason or not, but does not trust Legion Commander Keller.
Keel wagers his seamball card collection against Exo’s rifle scope
to see who turns out to be right about which side to back. Exo agrees
but before they part, a corvette with MCR markings drops out of
hyperspace and launches Republic Lancer Starfighters. Bombassa
convinces Keel to escort the imperial shuttle until it can jump
out-system. Ravi reports that the fighters and shuttle are flying in
formation and neither Exo nor Bombassa is able to raise their crew on
S-comm. Ravi taps into the comm net to discover that Exo and Bombassa
have orders to take control of the Indelible VI. If they don’t, the
corvette has orders to destroy the ship. The corvette launches
concussion warheads and the Indelible jumps to hyperspace.
The
ship emerges near RX-17732 an abandoned mining station that Keel has
visited before to take stock of the situation. The dark legionnaires
admit they have no idea what’s going on and Keel admits that events
they aren’t aware of seem to be in motion. That said, he is still
heading to the Doomsday Fleet to get his crew back and he has
Maydoon’s DNA while the Black Fleet does not. Re-assessing the
situation, Exo decides to join Wraith.
Ravi
scans the news feeds and mentions that Article 19 is in place and the
Legion is being condemned for essentially invading Ankalor while the
House of Reason has officially reconciled with the MCR, and both will
seek alliance with Goth Sullus’s Empire. An image of Goth Sullus
appearing wearing Tyrus Rechs’ armor convinces Bombassa to work
with Keel as well. Ravi shows them the chaos erupting all over the
galaxy and Keel orders him to locate Victory squad just in case
events worsen. Ravi points out the asteroid where they find
themselves is not RX-17732 after all but a private stash that Tyrus
Rechs willed to Keel in his final affairs. Informing Keel of this
(Ravi continues) is the reason that he stayed with Keel when the rest
of his people (the Ancients) moved on beyond the galaxy, fleeing the
chaotic forces encroaching at the edge of galactic space. Sullus’s
tricks are the product of Ancient technology and tools. Ravi’s job
was to find someone who could resist the approaching force and that
seems to be Keel.
Entering
the dead base, they find that the space inside populated by dead
dog-like creatures which were apparently killed by Rechs’ legendary
shooting skill (there are no missed shots in evidence). Keel
discovers an inscription to an office-like room (“I didn’t leave
nothing”) which he enters and examines. Inside, he finds one of
Rechs’s old slug-thrower pistols and a box of depleted uranium
rounds for it while Ravi checks the logs and Exo and Bombassa look at
the armory. Keel activates an AI persona of Rechs, which displays a
recording he apparently made for himself…and reviews his history
from General Reeves, Savage War fighter to General Rex, legionnaire,
to Tyrus Rechs, bounty hunter. Rechs has had many lives, many
identities, and a life measured in centuries. Casper is named as
someone who is attempting to harness Ancient power at the edge of the
galaxy in order to enslave it. Keel surmises that Casper is actually
the man they know as Goth Sullus. Unfortunately looting the armory
frees more of the dog-like creatures who have been nesting in the
base. The creatures attack and the crew escapes the base aboard the
Indelible VI.
Keel
takes the ship to the Ungmar system, last known location of the
hidden Doomsday Fleet, the Cybar mother ship authorized by the House
of Reason as a last ditch defense and sought by Goth Sullus as a
bargaining chip in his war against the Republic. They pass the
remains of Exo and Bombassa’s shuttle as they approach, destroyed
for not having the correct DNA key aboard. The ship permits the
Indelible VI to land but Ravi reports that the controlling AI will
try to capture them once down. Bombassa for his part insists on
carrying out Goth Sullus’s orders to capture the mother ship.
Debarking,
the Indelible’s crew are met by CAT37 the Cybar admin bot who
offers to take them to the confirmation terminal. Keel dispatches the
bot with his blaster. Ravi links to the computer and shows them the
route to the detention block and guides them to Prisma and Leenah’s
cells. While they wonder what to do with the guard bot, Garret speaks
from the intercom and reveals that he’s been hiding out aboard the
ship along with Skrizz, Hutch, one of Andien Broxin’s Nether Ops
legionnaires, and parts of Crash. Worse, if anyone but an
interrogator (bot or replicant) releases the cell doors, a swarm of
titan warbots will retaliate. Garret directs them to their hiding
place but they find a butchered Moktaar on the way. They “capture”
Hutch and Garret, who update them on the situation. Hutch and Keel
figure out who is actually working for whom and Hutch describes the
robotic components of the Cybar ship: the titans warbots, the
spiders, and crawlers. There are also pilot bots, AI drones and
battle bots. There are also stealthy bots that pick out high profile
targets for execution. Worst of all, CRONUS, the AI that runs the
ship, is fully independent and the equal of any super-destroyer.
Hutch and Garret believe that it is fully capable of taking over the
galaxy. Thanks to their description, Bombassa is willing to work with
Keel on retrieving his crew and escaping from the ship.
Garret
is sent back to the Indelible IV to wait with Ravi and remote control
what gadgets needs tweaking for an escape. They release Leenah then
head to Prisma’s cell, where they discover a replicant of Leenah
asking Prisma about her ability to make objects move. Keel kills the
replicant and Leenah take charge of Prisma who has learned that
CRONUS is keeping her alive because deep down it fears her potential
to destroy the Cybar machines.
Titans
appear to block their escape and destroying even one of them takes
all of Keel, Exo and Bombassa’s battlefield skill. Prisma discovers
that her commands carry real weight, and she accidentally stuns Hutch
and Leenah. Keel promises that if Prisma can get Leenah and the
others to the Indelible VI he will stay behind to retrieve Skrizz and
destroy the Cybar ship.
Spider-bots
appear and attack the group, with Exo and Bombassa clearing a path
for the others, dragging a badly wounded Hutch, only to be met by
more Titans at the landing bay. They clamber aboard and man the
Indelible’s burst turrets instructed by Ravi, who heads back to
help Keel.
Skrizz
saves Keel from a Titan patrol and they catch each other up on the
situation. Keel urges Skrizz to head back to the ship while Keel
sabotages the mother ship. Skrizz leads Keel to the main generator,
but on the way they discover the hull of the republic corvette
Deluvia, a deep space survey vessel. Skrizz points out the reactor is
inside the dead ship, then vanishes from sight while Keel enters the
hulk. He tells Garret to leave as soon as Skrizz arrives and picks
his brain for information about the Deluvia while Ravi arrives and
tries to talk Keel out of the suicide mission he’s undertaken. As
the ship’s defenses activate Keel abandons his intention and he and
Ravi fight past swarms of robots in their effort to escape to the
Indelible VI while garret closes blast doors to help out. Leenah and
Keel pull a clear the deck maneuver to wipe out the bots with the
ship’s drives while Leenah swings the ship around to pick him, Ravi
and Skrizz up.
Starfighters
approach as the Indelible VI leaves the mother ship. Keel shows
Bombassa how to manage the fake transponder collection in order to
jump to hyperspace, on the way to En Shakar.
Meanwhile,
at Bantaar Reef, the Republic Seventh Fleet is at rest. Admiral
Landoo, who lost the only naval engagement between the Black Fleet
and the Republic Navy, meets with X and his assistant. X reasons that
even if Landoo succeeds vs. the Black Fleet she’ll still have to
fight the Legion, since Article 19 is in effect and wants to know her
plans. Landoo sees the Legion as criminals. X tries to convince her
that the House of Reason is at odds with her navy oath. Landoo
receives news that the Black Fleet has jumped into the Reef and the
discussion is rendered moot as the fleet is ordered to battle
stations. X introduces his assistant, Major Ellek Owens, who has an
offer. Finally, X manages to convince Landoo not to throw her fleet
into ruin against the Black Fleet battleships and instead jump her
fleet to Utopion to link up with the Legion.
Aboard
the newly renamed Audacity, a former Black Fleet corvette, Capt
Desaix takes stock of his crew of rescued POWs and is alarmed about
the impending battle. All three of Goth Sullus’s battleships
arrive and position themselves to cut off all escape from the naval
depot. Admiral Landoo contacts Desaix with a mission: transport Owens
anywhere he wants to go and follow his orders.
Aboard
the battleship Terror, Lt. Cmdr Kat Haladis watches the Black Fleet’s
assault on Bantaar Reef, advises Capt. Vampa on how to cut that
retreat off.
X and
Owens board the Audacity and are ordered to Tarrago by X and engage
fighters from the Terror as she battleship moves to cut her off.
Atumna Fal pilots the ship as she would a fighter to avoid serious
damage, and jumps to Tarrago.
At
Tarrago, X delivers a diplomatic message for Goth Sullus. In it,
Orrin Kaar suggests an alliance between the Republic and the
fledgling Empire. The Audacity is permitted to land aboard the
Imperial Dreadnought Overlord to discuss terms. That done, the crew
is imprisoned while X and Owens are taken to meet Armiral Ordo, from
Imperial Intelligence, who confirms their identities and after
warning them allows them to meet Goth Sullus. Sullus uses his
mind-mojo on X who spills everything he knows while Owen’s implants
record the whole meeting.
Owens
steals a shock trooper’s blaster and flees, relying on his escape
and evasion skills to lead his pursuers further into the ship while
backtracking to Desaix and informing him of X’s ploy (or treason
depending on your POV). Escape requires that the ship’s docking
tractor be disabled, which Owens will do while Desaix follows Casso
back to Audacity with a message Owens recorded for Legion General
Keller on Utopion.
Desaix
leads his crew back to the Audacity with Jory taking a blaster hit
and passing out, while Owens runs interference, heading for the
tractor array control section. As the troopers close in, Owens
overloads the tractor beam and dies as the crew of the Audacity
escapes in their ship.
Landoo
and Keller agree on a plan to defend Utopion: Landoo will command the
Seventh fleet, Ubesk commands the Combined Fleets Task Force, and
Capt. Durad will be a liaison aboard the carrier Freedom. The hope is
that the Back Fleet jumps to Utopion, where it will see a Legion and
Seventh Fleet ostensibly at war with other. As the Black Fleet
attacks the Legion, the Seventh Fleet will attack the Black Fleet’s
flank, knocking their battleships out, launch SSMs, and run for deep
space, leaving the Legion to board the Black Fleet ships.
Goth
Sullus boards the Imperator, as the Black Fleet rearms and jumps for
Utopion, without the Overlord, months ahead of schedule. When the
Black Fleet arrives, they are engaged by elements of the Republic
defense. The Imperator destroys three corvettes with her ion cannon;
two shots hit the destroyer Marathon which loses power, but Landoo
denies the CO permission to abandon ship. The Republic corvette
Simpkin is destroyed when it collides with a wrecked frigate. 15 SSMS
survive the black fleet’s point defense cannon fire and strike the
Imperator, crippling the battleship. The Republic destroyer Hidalgo
takes critical volleys from the Terror and Revenge; the ship’s
engineer scuttles her.
On
the Imperator, Admiral Rommal takes a message from Capt. Vampa aboard
the Terror and tells him the legion assault fleet is heading straight
for their battle group. He denies her permission to launch
interceptors to cover a retreat, and believes the battle is still
manageable. On the Freedom, Landoo’s adjutant gives her a fleet
status report: they’ve lost 8 hammerhead corvettes, 14 escort
frigates and two destroyers. The Masstaar reports heavy casualties
and a reactor leak. Landoo is ordered by Ubesk to concentrate fire on
the Terror, and orders a launch of all fighters to cover the legion
assault transports, which face fighter groups from the black fleet
ships as they launch boarding actions against the Revenge. The
legionnaires succeed in damaging the ship while taking heavy losses,
leaving Terror as the only battleship able to fire its main guns. The
fighting between boarding parties and defenders intensifies until a
new contact appears in Utopion space: the Cybar mother ship. Goth
Sullus orders his fleets to continue the fighting. He will deal with
the newcomers personally.
Aboard
the Cybar ship, CRONUS is anticipating the perfect opportunity to
destroy both Republic and Black fleets and wipe out Utopion, and
launches fighters against both fleets. Sullus prepares to head out to
the mother ship but is delayed by heavy damage to the Imperator’s
hangar deck and his shuttle’s destruction. Kat Haladis volunteers
to fly a shuttle from the Terror to Imperator to pick Sullus up and
transport him to the mother ship.
Aboard
the Mercutio, Keller and Ubesk sort through plans to deal with the
Cybar and ask Landoo her opinion. She decides to shift the fleet’s
attack to the Cybar ship.
The
Audacity jumps into Utopion space and dock with Mercutio. The Cybar
interceptors carry out surgical strikes with advanced micro-missiles
and effectively neutralize both the Revenge and the Freedom as the
Cybar mother ship approaches the Seventh fleet and vaporizes it with
its Mauler main gun.
After
listening to Owens’s report, Keller instructs Desaix and his crew
to transmit the message to Wraith, and records a message of his own
to be transmitted as well. Desaix heads out with his new orders.
More
legionnaires land on the Imperator to bolster the boarding parties’
attack as Goth Sullus lands aboard the Cybar ship. They meet
resistance from Cybar titans but Sullus uses the power of the Crux to
sweep them as side even as his guard takes casualties. As they
penetrate further Sullus and Capt. Sturm realize the Cybar are
testing them, learning their strengths.
Cybar
Titans begin to land on the Imperator to hose down legionnaires and
shock troopers alike. Goth Sullus loses most of his guard as they
reach the center of the Cybar ship, and telepathically contacts Adm.
Rommal, showing his exactly what part of the mother ship to attack
with the Imperator’s main ion guns. Rommal obeys and Sullus uses
the Crux to push his armor’s force bubble far enough to shield
himself and his guard from the ion cannon damage. He confronts the
intelligence at the center of the ship and learns that the aliens are
utterly ancient, and willing to serve him. He slips on the ring of
power just as the Imperator explodes, Rommal’s last act being to
activate the self-destruct.
Ubesk
orders the Republic fleet to retreat and the legion fleet is
essentially destroyed, juts as an MCR fleet leaves hyperspace.
The
Legion is no more.
Epilogue:
Owens
and Chhun have a heart to heart aboard the Intrepid. Owens notes that
Kill Team Victory has been taking consistent and heavy losses, and
has decided to de-activate the team. He then offers Chhun the chance
to take his place as Dark Ops commander for the teams stationed
aboard Intrepid. An eventual promotion to Major goes with the
assignment. Chhun accepts as long as he gets to re-assign Bear and
Masters personally. He assigns Bear as TL of KT Outlaw, and gets to
work.
While
going over kill team after-action reports, Chhun is asked to consult
on a transmission from Legion Commander Washam, who uses a security
clearance (“Libre Shine 1611”) to inform Chhun as Dark Ops
commander that a new clandestine prison for political prisoners has
been set up on the planet Gallobren to replace the one lost on
Herbeer. He recommends that a kill team be sent to disrupt the
facility by facilitating an inmate uprising. Washam will do
everything he can to stall the site’s re-supply for two weeks, and
notes only planetary militia defend the facility while Delegate Nimh
Arushi who oversees the site is on hand as well.
Chhun
and Admiral Deynolds discuss the likelihood that the message from
Washam is real. Deynolds promises her full support.
Chhun
throws himself into the new role of Dark Ops Sector Commander, trying
to verify the truth of Washam’s report. Washam himself is a veteran
of the Psydon campaign, the first major battle to see points in
action. One combat memoir speaks highly of Washam despite his
appointed status, and speaks to the loyalty of the troops under
Washam’s command. Convinced of Washam’s honest intent, Chhun
creates an op for his kill teams. Some will recover Delegate Nimh
Arushi and the rest will liberate the prisoners located on the
clandestine prison on Gallobren. First Battalion from the 25th legion
will be dropped by Intrepid for support.
Chhun
and Task Force Granite drop to the surface of Gallobren and swim to
Arushi’s yacht, then plant charges on the hull to prevent its
escape. They track Arushi to her hotel while the rest of the task
force prepares to assault the prison. Arushi is apprehended and led
away. While Task Force Granite frees the prisoners, explosions are
heard, but it’s not the Intrepid. Another ship has arrived and is
bombarding the facility. Comm officer Lambert aboard the Intrepid
informs Chhun that fighter-supported drop pods are on the way for
exfiltration and support forces are on the way down. But a lot more
pods are dropping than Intrepid can account for. Chhun commandeers a
TT15 observation bot and determines that the opposing force is made
entirely of warbots…the same Titans from the Cybar mother ship.
Chhun
puts two and two together and begins giving orders to prepare for a
counter-attack. But the Intrepid has its own problems fighting off
the mother ship in orbit and plans for the legion’s exfiltration
fall apart. The warbots encircle Task Force Granite and isolate it in
the heart of the city, turning a city park into a battlefield.
Intrepid sends down a squadron of fighter-bombers to support the
legionnaires, but cannot aid them directly, nor would shuttles
survive planetfall. Reaper Squadron leader Dax Danns rides herd on a
command shuttle that attempts to make pickup for Chhun’s unit, but
the shuttle is destroyed before landing. It dawns on Chhun that
Intrepid is being forced to retreat and his unit is stranded. He sets
up a looping distress call to Indelible VI, blows up his command post
and swims for the shore.
Aboard
the Indelible VI, Garret plays Chhun’s message for Keel. Exo,
Bombassa, and Keel agree that they must help. Garret sends a text
message that help is on the way. Travel time through hyperspace is
three hours.
Chhun
meets up with the surviving legionnaires of Granite who have decided
to let Delegate Arushi go considering the circumstances. They are
ambushed by a platoon of warbots who kill all but Bear, Masters, and
Chuun. They head back to Granite’s original landing zone to wait
for possible rescue, working their ways through the drain pipes to
avoid being seen. The corpses of soldiers and civilians both impede
their progress, while sanitation bots mindlessly work to clear the
pipe. Up top, they see the city turned into a vast killing field,
rampant destruction and death wrecking the pristine core world’s
environment. As they scavenge for supplies, it occurs to them that a
rogue AI bent on galactic destruction would be a horrific opponent.
They hide and avoid capture by the warbots until Wraith can arrive,
turning on their rescue transponder only when the ETA time is near.
When
Wraith does arrive he has six Cybar fighters on his tail, which the
legionnaires immediately attack with shoulder-fired AP rockets.
Between the AP rounds and the ship’s guns they knock down the
remaining fighters, but warbots appear around their position. Wraith
hovers his ship as the leejes run for the ramp and Exo and Bombassa
strafe the warbots with blasters. The three leejes jump aboard and
Wraith climbs into the sky.
Wraith
travels to Mother Ree’s Sanctuary on En Shakar to give his crew and
passengers some rest and recovery time. Ree informs Chhun that the
Cybar have been stopped but the “the galaxy has lost its last ember
of freedom as a result.” The Indelible VI’s crew gathers at the
ship to listen to the recording Owens made of X’s confession in
front of Goth Sullus, and Keller’s final recorded orders to Ford
are to do what he must with the information. Wraith confirms that the
House of Reason is under Goth Sullus’s control. Wraith vows to kill
X and Chhun acknowledges that Kill Team Victory is back at full
strength. And, Chhun says, “We’re Victory Squad. And we’re
gonna make ‘em pay.”
This was the most enjoyable Galaxy's Edge book so far. I
seriously thought about bumping it up to a 5star, but upon
consideration, it's just not “quite” there. At the same time,
something about the story line grabbed me harder than the previous
ones and just made me do the Manly Fist Pump and Macho Man Dance
(said maneuvers are highly classified amongst the male part of the
world's population and should not be shown to just anyone). Goth
Sullus having a larger part to play was definitely up there. I did
have to laugh and laugh loud and uproariously, when the Ring of Power
made it's appearance. I bet Anspach and Cole (the authors) had a
blast writing that Tolkien homage into their Star Wars'esque
universe. One more nod to a fandom, a “we get you” kind of scene.
One thing that was hard was watching the Galactic Republic fall apart
and Legionnaires be destroyed. Seeing how the damned politicians had
been in league with Goth Sullus from the start and how Sullus was
simply outmaneuvering almost everyone, that was hard. You want to
think that the good guys have an ace in the hole, someone who can
come out of no-where to save the day, like Luke Skywalker. The thing
is, here? Luke Skywalker is a little girl with a temper and whose
daddy was killed. Gotta admit, things aren't looking too good. Plus,
the destruction of the Legion as a galactic wide fighting force
really cuts out the heart of those fighting against Sullus and his
minions.
Of course, all this just means that things are going to get really
awesome. With Sullus becoming an amalgam of Sith, Sauron and Cylon
(oh, did I forget to mention that the One Ring was created by machine
intelligence?), how can it not help but be awesome?
Anspach and Cole continue to impress me with their story telling
acumen. It is exactly what I want and in turn makes me angry, has me
chortling with glee, has me Macho Man dancing and then lying down
wondering how everything is going to be ok. Just fantastic and I am
loving this.
I have decided to give this series the “Favorite” tag. It has
definitely earned it!
★★★★✬
