The Clean and the Unclean [CLOSED]

[Death Korps of Krieg]

Triangulum

Unspecified System
Humanity Untainted Starship
Heavy Cruiser “Chistka”

It has been six weeks since several HU task forces came into this galaxy. Ever since the organization took in the Confederate Destroyer “Mailvellance”, they have been in touch with a particular alien species known as the Delieggen. Their description was rather astounding, but impressive. The former Confederates said that these xenos are shape shifters, manipulating their own DNA at will in order to change their bodies. Needless to say, this both intrigued and triggered the High Command of the Humanity Untainted. Despite their rather tight situation with the 5th and 1st Sector Fleets bearing down on HU cells, several small fleets have been dispatched to the Triangulum so far. Their purpose was to study and experiment on the Delieggen. In the process, they hoped to use the DNA of the xenos for combat applications, as well as killing them all while they are at it.

The Andromeda Class Heavy Cruiser “Chistka”, or known in Galactic Standard simply as “Purge”, sifted through the void, followed by several Black Eagles and Stormwinds behind it. Its gun turrets would soon come to life as it rained down an orbital bombardment on a Delieggen planet as a signal to prepare to die. Chistka and its cohorts would soon deploy several transports down to the surface, bearing in them the fanatical members of HU, seeking to slay all xenos in their path. In its bridge was Iosif Chuikov, a man who sees xenos either as tools to expend or foes to kill in sight. As he did his job, a transmission came in from High Command. It was a live video feed.

“Captain,” the Commodore said from the other side. “Our interactions with the crew of the Malveillance has revealed that the Confederate government is very keen on killing the Delieggen, and would like to have someone help them. That is what we are going to do.”

“Commodore?”, Iosif started. “If I may, the Confederacy and the Commonwealth are military allies. Aren’t we risking anything here?”

“The Confederates have no idea that the HU even exists and that we are at war with the Commonwealth government. The fools in Durgadon are isolationist lapdogs to the High Queen. Their war with us is a well kept secret. Besides, the Commonwealth won’t just send forces to the Triangulum just to hunt you down.”

“Affirmative, Commodore.”, Iosif sighed as the video feed was cut. “Well, here we go then.”

In a few moments, a message offering assistance in purging the Delieggen xenos was sent straight to Karsopolis. All Iosif and the rest of the HU taskforce had to do now was wait...

 

[The Governor]

Imperial Intelligence Headquarters, Karsopolis

As rain lashed the windows of the Director Of Imperial Intelligence Alice Kennison reviewed the message from Humanity Untainted. Since she had followed Silva as Director of Intelligence, many things had remained the same, and many had changed. The massive, shadowy organization continued the work it had done since the day of Governor Henry in the Great Delieggen War, when they'd been tasked with locating the Ascendancy planets, and finding ways to discover Delieggen hiding amongst Confederate citizens. In the present, Intelligence worked with Keltaken Separatists as well as some of the newly created STAR Commandos to ensure the complete xenocide of the Confederacy's oldest enemies.

As Alice listened to the message, she considered the offer of help from the group called Humanity Untainted. They sounded a bit like extremists, but they did seem particularly eager to help with the Delieggen problem. And with the Delieggen Ascendancy considerably more powerful than it had been in the first Great Delieggen War, Alice understood the Confederacy needed all the help it could get.

She sent a reply to the group, intrigued to know more about how they could help.

"Greetings," she began. "I am Director Alice Kennison of Imperial Intelligence, and I've received your message. You're correct in your beliefs that we want them exterminated. As things stand, we currently have assistance from a few other groups, and almost all of the Confederate Government is arrayed against the Delieggen Ascendancy. However, as we've grown considerably stronger since the first Great Delieggen War, so have they. We eradicated their surface cities centuries ago, and we continued to pursue them down into the fiery tunnels. But as all the galaxies know, we missed some. And while we believed them dead, they built up once more in secret. While they have very few starships, the Delieggen have otherwise returned more or less to the strength they had during the first war. The war where we spent fifteen years trying to annihilate them. We've received your offer of help, and the Confederate Government is glad to accept. You'll have sanction to fight them in Confederate Space, and all the resources of Imperial Intelligence. At some point, I'm sure you'll work with the military as well. We accept your offer, and if you'll allow, I'd like to send a liaison officer into your ranks."

 

[Death Korps of Krieg]

As the Confederates sent back their reply, Iosif was elated. They now had the backing of an entire government behind them, and such tidings would bring great development to their operations. Sooner or later High Command is going to send in the bulk of their forces into the Triangulum in order to relocate their main base of operations, as it is feared that the Ravenwing Annihilators and the Star Dragons will soon locate the HU headquarters: the barren world of Moria. It is a risk that these extremists cannot afford to take; if Moria’s fleet and facilities are destroyed, the Humanity Untainted is done for. Thus, relocation is a necessity. And now, with the Confederates giving then sanction, they now have the perfect reason to move their powerbase. As the HU forces purged the Delieggen on the planet below, Iosif sent back a reply. He began typing in a message whilst the glow of the shock cannons of the Chistka illuminated the void all around the heavy cruiser’s bridge.



“We are indeed gladdened by your acceptance of our aid in destroying these filth. We also accept your offer in sending a liaison officer to us. Attached to this message are the coordinates of our main task force here in Triangulum. Be guided well. Humanity prevails.”



HU Main Task Force - Battlefleet Senshin



In an asteroid field somewhere on the Triangulum, a fleet of a hundred ships stays in silent wait. Consisting of 25 Andromeda Class Heavy Cruisers, 40 T-300 Cruisers, 5 Slava Battlecruisers, 3 Darksea Battlecarriers, and 27 Stormwind Heavy Destroyers, this fleet is mostly made up of ships stolen from the Molot Naroda. To be specific, they were stolen from the Sevastapol shipyards. Their IFF (IdentiFication Finder) codes were swapped out, and their hulls were painted in a pitch black.



Commanding this fleet was Kyoshirou Chihaya, the former admiral of the Fourth Sector Fleet, the Star Vampires. A hard on xenophobe, he was removed from his position as admiral of the Star Vampires when he ordered the Musashi to fire upon an unarmed civilian transport bearing Nicassir bureaucrats. To add salt to the wound, a Nicassir was the one who replaced him; it was none other than the infamous Vampire of Sevastapol, Juinsan Starvane. Rebelling against his country, Kyoshirou stole some of the Fourth Fleet’s ships alongside his followers, and then proceeded to join the Humanity Untainted. Now, with his former position gone, his current flagship is the modified Darksea Battlecarrier Zangetsu.



As Kyoshirou mused in the asteroid belt, a transmission came through.



“Very well. I will be waiting for this special someone.”

 

[The Governor]

Triangulum, Confederate Space, DCS Revenant, Living Quarters

Bright lights shone down on her, but nothing like a marquee on Karsopolis, where she'd been born. No. Instead of bright, vibrant, and welcoming, these had a cold glare, like you'd find in an operating room. Just like the cold table she was lying on, her body bound by flex-steel restraints, and her mind by a potent drug. The young woman was awake on the table, and her mind was clouded. She didn't understand what was going on. She only had a faint understanding of where she was, and that she was in some sort of medical facility.

Footsteps approached, and she saw two figures. One glanced her way, the other stared at a datapad. And then it happened. Sharp, stabbing, horrible pain, all over her body, like nothing she'd felt before. Her scream came loud, sharp, and shrill. As she writhed on the table, the restraints got tighter, and the figures moved towards her, holding her down. As the agony went on, the table seemed to shake, and one of the figures began to speak.

"Katelyn! Katelyn!" the figure said.

Then her eyes snapped open, and she was awake in her bunk. Slowly, the young woman's commanding officer released his grip on her shoulder. "Katelyn. You're awake. Good. Another nightmare?"

As she slowly returned to reality, Katelyn replied, "Yes. Thank God it's over. And it happened again, Jean. Everything I felt when I woke up from the Procedure's Second Stage. The thing that made me a Stage 2 Super Sapien, like the rest of Malebeste Company. The pain, Jean. I remembered it all, felt it all again, even though it was months ago. It was worse than anything I felt in training, or any of the wounds I got on the battlefield. I dont know the details of what they did to change each of us, but after mine, I cant believe I managed to survive."

"I still cant believe they botched yours. They didn't give you enough anesthetics, and then with your newly improved senses, you didn't just feel the pain. You felt it more intensely than any normal human could, or could take. The fact you survived is a testament to your strength." He paused and watched as Katelyn slowly sat up in the bunk, and then added, "It's good you're awake though. I heard you screaming, but I came here from the officers' quarters because you have a visitor. Someone who needs to speak with you, rather urgently."

"Who would want to speak with me? I'm supposed to be rank and file. That's why I joined the Naval Assault Corps, to get away from all the bureaucracy," Katelyn enquired.

"I'm not sure why. I only got a working name. Phantom Seven, Imperial Intelligence."

"Tell her I'll be up shortly. This should be interesting. I'll join you soon." As she donned her gold and black armour, Katelyn wondered what the visit would be about. She considered the meaning as she went to a mirror and brushed her long, dark brown hair, and washed her face. She didn't bother with applying cosmetics. Her whole family had impressed upon her that appearances were very important, but she wouldn't be meeting anyone important. She would be meeting a faceless, nameless, probably soulless operative of Intelligence, and Katelyn didn't care to impress any of them.

When she was ready, Katelyn put her helmet under her shoulder, and headed towards the bridge. A few of the officers on duty stared as she walked by, but turned away after a glance at her right collarbone. It only carried the single white stripe of a lowly midshipman, and relationships with subordinates were sometimes frowned upon.

Upon arriving, Katelyn saw a familiar, fair skinned, auburn-haired woman in a long white coat sitting at a console and smiling. The Intelligence operative was the beautiful Tara Gladstone, and in her right hand was a half empty bottle of Nova-Cola. "Ah. About time you got here. Midshipman Katelyn Sharp, say goodbye to Malebeste Company. You've been reassigned."

"Reassigned, Tara?" the commando asked indignantly. "I'm sure you have a free hand in most of the Confederacy, but when it comes to Naval Assault Corps personnel who are on active duty, I'm pretty sure there are rules and channels that even you people in Intelligence have to follow."

"Working names, Katelyn!" Tara snapped. "Well, I suppose it's just us here, so I can drop the formalities. But you obviously dont understand how deception and anonymity are my greatest tools. Especially the latter."

"This is all the protection I need," Katelyn said as she tapped her armour. "So how are you doing this, Tara? Why have I been reassigned, on whose orders, and where is Carter? Why didn't they send him instead of you? I know him, and actually like him."

Tara laughed at the questions and replied, "Well, we'll start with why you've been reassigned. You're simply needed elsewhere, Katelyn. For the last few months of the war with the HCA, your company engaged them in combat along with the rest of the Naval Assault Corps. Especially since you were more than just human. Much more. With the Confederacy at peace with them for the moment, we're focusing on other projects. Mainly our complete purge of the Delieggen."

"Then why haven't we sent the NAC to their homeworlds?"

"Because, Katelyn, we're not wasting the resources of the Confederate Navy on such living garbage as the Delieggen. Not when others will step to the task, and when the Confederacy may return to war at any time. Humanity Untainted. A group of people willing to exterminate the Delieggen, with support from Intelligence, of course. You'll be the only actual Confederate military member helping them, but Intelligence will provide military grade equipment, the HU will supply their people, and you'll provide...oversight, and a certain modicum of sanction to the whole operation. Officially, you're going to be the liaison officer."

"Why me? Surely there's other, more qualified personnel for this?" Katelyn asked.

"Two reasons, Midshipman. One, your sister Kendra is our head of state. You're a member of the Sharp family, and no avenue of public service you try to run away to will change that. Second, they seem very eager to help. It's only fair we give them something in return. They're very obsessed with the supremacy of mankind. It seems only natural to give them one of our Stage 2 Super Sapiens. After all, the Stage 2 batch is the finest we have to offer."

"What about the S.T.A.R. Commandos?"

"Dont make me laugh, Katelyn. The S.T.A.R.s are very special. Sophisticated, Tactical, Apocalypse Response. You're way above baseline humans yourself, but the STARs? They're in their own league, and we're never giving that kind of knowledge to outsiders."

"So you're handing me over to these people because of my family name and my genetics? I dont like this, Tara. Why didn't Carter deliver this message?"

"Oh. Well, that's the best part. Your dear brother is otherwise engaged, mainly overseeing the protection of Ambassador Rhodes. I'm the Intelligence operative in charge of Xenocide Operations Against the Delieggen Ascendancy. So we'll be seeing a lot more of each other. And you dont have to like it, Katelyn. You just have to do your job." The agent seemed to pause for a moment, and then pulled a datapad from her coat and handed it to Katelyn. "I almost forgot. Your orders of reassignment, just in case you thought I'd let this be held up by details. All the way up to Admiral Beauregard of the Naval Assault Corps, as well as your sister and ruler, Shaalra Kendra Sharp."

Upon hearing this, the youngest Sharp's shoulders slumped in defeat. She replied, "Fine, Tara. I see you've thought of everything. Lead the way then. We might as well go meet my new employers." With that, she followed Tara to a waiting Intelligence starship, and they went to the coordinates in the message.

HU Main Task Force

As the airlock door opened, Katelyn wondered what would be waiting aboard the HU flagship. Once she had arrived in the system, Tara had sent her aboard the HU vessel, and had probably departed the system by now. For the moment, Katelyn stood in the corridor, waiting for someone to direct her about where to go first.