Symarion: Call of the Void.

Predator.

4 Month later..

“ This looks just appalling. “ Roland grunted to himself, standing on his psychic plane where he could see his opponents plane now.

Roland, true to his driving motivation, had something akin to a swamp, shrouded in thick mist that only he could properly see through. And he had been hunting down a troublesome Psyker that was particularly Intelligent and evasive.

“ Stop this ! I am not hurting anyone ! “ The other called out, standing atop what looked like a Massive brain, with random tentacles sprouting from various points on it’s surface, and it was surrounded by what looked like asteroids.

Fitting, in a way, as this guy, Corrik, as Roland recalled, was using something akin to Telekinesis. A Mercenary that was making a name for himself, running protection details for merchant groups in the outer sectors.

He was well regarded, but like many Psykers, he did not follow the law that demanded Psykers to register with the Terran Commonwealth. Understandably, as Roland thought, given that it was little more then forced conscription, where those that were potentially dangerous or to hard to control, were being killed.

It was one way to strengthen accepted Psykers in the Commonwealth as well, given that those whom distinguished themselves in service to the Terran cause, were given the chance to battle less acceptable individuals to strengthen them.

But those were scraps, and while Roland should have given this man another chance to submit to the Commonwealth, he had little interest in doing so, Corrik would simply be marked down as resistant and aggressive, and serve as means to strengthen Roland.

It would be a hell of a headache in paperwork, but with Karlo’s backing, that was of lesser concern and the better solution, as Corrik, with his Psychically enhanced intellect would likely be considered to dangerous, executed or fed to another psyker.

“ Sorry lad, these are the rules.” Roland merely uttered, and begun sending out the fog on his plane to assault the other, which would result in a battle of both, Power and energy. But the Psykers strength was more important in these battles, as they directly correlated in offensive and defensive strength.

It was a simple calculation, if you were to put numbers on it, Equals would spend the same amount of energy to the attackers assault when defending. But weaker opponent had to exert more energy, were it came to a two to one, even three two one exchange.

And Corrik, he did not seem aware of this, he did not seem to have done battle on the plane before as his Energy was just barely able to render proper defense. Probably self learned for most of his life, which was a shame, Roland would have liked to squeeze some information about this so-called Psykers union out of him.

“ I said STOP ! “ Corrik shouted, sending these asteroids against Roland’s mist, which was a waste of his energy, given that Corrik would need to assault Roland’s Psychic plane directly to harm him. And Roland was already surrounding that vile looking brain of the other with his mist, which would make the assault more efficient for him.

“ Stop, I surrender. “ Corrik called, before the battle had really begun. He still was good on his energy, but it seemed to Roland that he at least realized that he was weaker and bound to loose.

It gave Roland a wide grin, and he could see the others fear in his eyes. It was nearly a shame that Corrik could not see him, or the satisfaction he felt right now, as he begun to squeeze his fog around that vile brain that represented Corrik’s power.

“ I Surrender ! I Surrender ! “ Corrik Screamed out, realizing that Roland had no intention to stop, and Roland could feel the other trying to strengthen his defense, while lodging new asteroids his way.

It was already to late though, Corrik just now seemed to have realized that he needed to attack Roland’s plane. But by how those tentacles on his plane shrunk, Roland could determine that he was wasting a lot of energy,

Then Corrik begun to scream in pain when Roland’s mist begun to drill into that brain, and slowly drain it of the remaining energy the other Psyker had, at which point, the real fun begun.

Corrik was now in excruciating pain as his Psychic plane was directly assaulted, and Roland could see that he did not even understand what was happening, when his power was being deteriorated, which would render him essentially brain-dead, if Roland went on.

It caused Roland a cruel smile as he only increased the assault now, watching how that fleshy plane slowly shriveled and dried up, only for Corrik to release a last desperate shriek as he realized he might actually die. Only for there to be sudden silence as that shriveled up brain broke apart, and leave only the catatonic representation of Corrik.

At this point, Corrik might still be able to recover after a while, and even rebuild his psychic plane eventually. But that would be such a waste to Roland, who now had the mist sharpen into a blade that struck Corrik right into his head.

“ Yesss “ Roland would near moan then, feeling how now part of the others capacity and power became his, just a fraction of what the other had, but more then he would have gained in months of training. Oh, it was such a satisfying sensation, so exhilarating that it was a shame for it to have only lasted a moment.

And then Corrik’s representation faded, and leave only Roland on his plane, shivering with delight as his plane grew just a tiny bit, representing the growth in strength.

“ Fool, he resisted. “ Roland grunted the moment he returned to the real world, still back in his fighter-craft that, from afar, had watched the convoy.

He was playing the role of the loyal dog again, knowing that he was being watched by a Handler as, even if he was considered Loyal, Psykers were never truly being trusted in the Commonwealth.

“ Any clue’s about the Psykers Union ? “ He heard over the communications unit.

“ No, this one was a rogue element. No connection to the Psyker’s Union, but I can not be entirely sure. “ Roland lied.

“ And his Merc group ? “ The other side asked.

“ Corrik spoke High Terran, it might be his increased Intellect, but there is a chance that he had the backing of a Military family. “ Roland expanded his lie, watching the three Merchant vessels, guarded by the four heavy combat frigates of the Grey Warden Mercenary group.

“ Shame. We’ll have a fleet catch them in the next system, return to base for now. Admiral Parker requested your presence in High Command, he has a new task for you. “ The other side instructed.

“ Roger, RTB. Any news from the Psyker in Cradle ? “ Roland responded, chuckling inwardly, sending them on a wild goose chase was always a good way to stoke the fire, and prove his Loyalty.

“ Their ships have disappeared, Cradle reopened their gate two weeks ago and THC send an Envoy there. But there was no traces left of that ship. And there has been no activity in Logan either. Command has withdrawn the patrols for now, every ship is needed on the Seltran front at the moment. “ The other reported.

“ I see. “ Roland grunted, displeased that he lost every trace of this price.

He had not been able to return to Logan since that incident with the Seltran ship, but it did fire up new hostilities with the Seltran, and permit Karlo to rally some more support to his side. But they were currently at a dead end on that route as the ceasefire duration had been to long, the Seltran had amassed a lot of ships on their side.

Terran High Command feared they would launch a massive assault once more ships had been gathered, so they preventively struck and begun the war anew. But the Seltran line was holding steadfast on all three remaining fronts now.

The Terran Military managed no more then to launch a few heavy strikes to clear out ships, and then retreat before their own losses would be to severe. Even the new Drone carrier design only managed to assure that the Terran losses remained insignificant, as the Seltran where to busy shooting down the massive drone swarms before they threatened their positions.

It would be some time before they would make any significant progress again, and they would probably start to use Merc groups soon, to run distractions and guard supply lines. At this pace, it would be a while before Karlo could make a move that he can Justify before High Command, as even Intelligence can’t move military forces freely right now.

Roland sighed as he turned his vessel around to return to base, he could only hope that the other would eventually slip up and reveal himself again.

Weldor System.

“ Orbit established around the 3rd Planet. “ Hope reported as they finally reached Weldor, a System with 6 planets, one of which was a Gast Giant that orbited close to it’s sun, a star that was at least 5 times the mass of the sun in Sol, which promised an easy access to power generation for the planetary extraction base.

They had reached Weldor later then hoped, as they managed to create a crystal in the Second system they jumped to. But to get entry into the Jump ships reactor core, to install the crystal, it was one heck of a task.

They had to cut through to the socket where the crystal had to be placed, and every-time Anthony took control of the ship, it would simply repair the damage, which meant the ship had to be put out of order for a while, leaving them stuck for two month.

Anthony was glad though, he had skipped the base construction in Allwanel as there where few useful worlds with sufficient resources. So in those two month stuck in Cordan, as the system was called, they could build up the first Gate structure, and a significant industrial base, where he only had to take over the warehouse structure and the Virtual command intelligence located within, which actually gave him access to the resources stored there.

And since the Androids on site were not claimed by him, but completely left to the command of the VI, it saved him a lot of his abilities Command points, which is how he referred to the value now that represented his max and used power.

Since then, they established such bases and gate structures in two more systems, Eldrani and Melkar, as Ina had crafted a few more Crystals for him on their way. And he was glad to finally have those in hand, aside from powering the gates, it significantly increased the jump-range.

The crystal alone managed to power a jump of up to 250 lightyears, after which, the ship would feed on his ability. And the Crystal needed about two weeks then to recharge, which could be seen by it’s color. The more white you seen on it, the less it’s charge, and a fully pink crystal reflected a full charge.

How and where it was drawing it’s energy from was a question no one could answer, but it worked a lot better then having to rely on his psychic energy alone. And that aside, since he took one of the crystals for himself, an especially big specimen, his own energy regeneration had significantly increased.

That meant, the Siren were no longer needed to regain his energy, but they still increased his energy capacity over time, and they certainly did increase his command points. Besides, he could not imagine being without these toys anymore.

“ Harder, Bunnyslut. “ Anthony groaned at one of the Siren that was entertaining him, bouncing hard and fast in his lap.

“ Go ahead, and extend the Shipyard module, and launch the Haunts. “ He then instructed Hope, who by now was used to the sight of Anthony nonchalantly indulging in his Slaves.

“ Understood. “ Hope responded, and then announced to the whole ship, “ Attention, the Hope is about to expand into Stationary mode, please refrain from using lifts and central corridors. Do not enter marked areas until expansion has been completed.

Stationary mode will start in 5 minutes. “ Hope announced.

The stationary mode of the Hope, which was originally intended to be used once a colony had been settled, split the ship into 4 sections, so that a central area within the ship was being opened in a rough cross shape. Only the top of the ship remained firmly connected through the command deck, but the decks below where being split into 4 pieces, through a central vertical and lateral separation from front to back of the ship.

This opened up a space supported by extra framework, to act as a small shipyard and maintenance yard for ships around the size of a frigate, with extra framework extended behind the ship to maintain larger vessels.

The New Horizon 03, which always had used the central docking port, would be fully exposed in this mode. It had always been hidden deep within the Hope, as its port was connected to the Command deck, usually having to descent a downward passage through the Hope to fully leave it. But now, it could simply undock and fly out of the Hope in a more straight forward way.

Anthony soon finished up with the Siren, holding her down so she could feel his delight for her service, and enjoying her shiver with a mixture of fear and delight. Which seemed based on the fact that he already had hinted about, how he might start breeding them in the future.

Nana, as her name was, had no interest in becoming a Mother, despite the fact that she chose a lapine inclined appearance with ears and tail, suggesting strong breeding desires to him. It made him wonder if this was just an act of hers, as she kept resisting him quite often. But that made her only more enticing to play with, as he enjoyed that loud moaning when she broke down under his assault. And it reminded him a little of his plays with Kira.

On one occasion she even suggested for him to let her go, but he made pretty clear to her then that she no longer had a choice, as that was given before they left Cradle, now she was merely his property, and he was starting to enjoy taking her by force.

“ Good slut. Now, get back to work. I’ll be sure to call for you again later. “ Anthony moaned, pulling her off his lap, so she could get back on her feet.

“ Y-yes, Master. “ She uttered, leaving still with the traces of their act roaming down her inner thigh, as she, like the other Siren, had been forbidden to do away with their exhaustion, unless it was related to their safety or work. And Anthony started to suspect that he somehow was able to restrict them in the use of their ability, as sometimes, it seemed they truly were unable to break these orders.

Only Kira, who stood nearby, knew the truth for now, that Anthony actually restricted the use of their ability. But when it came to intimacy, it turned a wonderful experience for them, and she had no reason to tell him that, as she enjoyed his ignorant use of it.

“ Sometimes, I wonder if she does that on purpose. “ Anthony noted with a smile as Nana had left the bridge.

“ Might be, who knows. “ Kira remarked with the hint of a smile.

“ Well, do tell her to resist harder next time, I actually find her resistance quite exciting. “ Anthony remarked just before a shudder went through the ship, the section separation finally beginning.

“ All bulkheads in place, Stationary deployment underway. Section connections are being extended. No visible problems. “ Hope reported.

“ I will never get used to this. “ Kira admitted, as this was the third time now that Hope split apart like this.

There had been no visible separation points from within the ship to her, and having seen the expansion of the Haunt hangar at the front was also quite odd, as the hangar tripled in size through being pulled apart with the separation, increasing the space for additional Haunt MK II units, and she was darn glad that Anthony felt irked by those units himself, as more of them was something she would consider a nightmare.

“ Well, it was never meant to be done multiple times. And the design I recalled was just the extension of framework to the rear. But I am glad we have it. Starting tomorrow, we go fishing for new toys. “ Anthony spoke.

“ You sure are looking forward to it. “ Hope remarked.

“ I sure am. And the fact that they are still dumping wrecks there is sure not going to be wasted by us. But for today, just start the construction of a mining base on planet. We’ll make this system the fourth resource sector and place another gate structure around here. “ Anthony instructed.

“ I will need time to determine an appropriate orbit distance to the star, since we can’t use the Gas Giant at it’s orbit distance to it. “ Hope advised, as the proximity of the Gas Giant would take the Hope to close for comfort, it’s hull would not be able to withstand it.

“ Good. I will go and check on the two lady’s then. Kira, be so sweet and help with the Android deployment to the planet. “ Anthony spoke as he got back up on his feet, looking forward to see after Tilly and Ina for a bit.

“ Ugh, me again ? “ Kira protested.

“ Your the best Pilot, or would you like me to try ? “ Anthony teased, his flight skills had barely improved, and in Kira’s eyes, he was terrible at it.

“ No thank you, I would prefer the shuttle remain in one piece ! “ She protested, and then walked off towards the Haunt bay where the Shuttle was waiting. Though there was a hint of a blush, as she did enjoy being praised just like the others, but she did like to hide it and keep that bratty act up for him.

Anthony would sigh at this, shaking his head, and briefly turning to the bridge again to utter, “ I’ll be back later, you have the Bridge, Hope. “

“ Like always, have fun. “ Hope responded, and it sounded nearly amused.