Free Black Legion: 02 - Assault on Khorram by Michael G. Thomas Page B

colonies.”
    Kleandridas brought up a detailed profile of Ariaeus, the second most senior Median commander in the Legion. Clearchus had only met him a few times, and the dislike they had for each other was obvious and unguarded. He snarled at the face, remembering the last time they had spoken. Clearchus watched him and remembered that his deputy and close friend had a painful secret; one only Clearchus and a few other high-ranking Arcadians knew of. He sighed, angry at himself for forgetting.
    “I’m sorry, your family has had dealing with some of Ariaeus’ people. I know it can’t be easy for you to work with him or his force,” he said, doing his best to be as sensitive about the issue as he could.
    It was true and a cause of great resentment to the high-ranking Terran officer. An infiltration team under the orders of Ariaeus had managed to start a revolution on one of the smaller Plataean moons, two decades earlier. It seems it was part of a plan to try and wrest the minor colonies of the smaller Terran factions away from the Laconian League, upon whom they were dependent. It wasn’t the first time it had happened, and it wouldn’t be the last. The Terrans were notorious for their infighting and mistrust of each other, and a weakness that was often exploited by enemies such as the Medes. The Mining Revolution, as it was known, had personal significance to Kleandridas, however. The Medes agents helped instigate a workers’ strike that quickly turned violent. Many citizens and workers had been killed while fighting government forces and atrocities had been committed on both sides. When the fighting was over, over nine hundred people had lost their lives, including both of Kleandridas’ parents. The involvement of Ariaeus was only found out years later.
    “Strategos, I have Topoteretes Pleistoanax on the link. He wishes to speak with you,” said the ship’s auletes.
    Strategos Clearchus smiled at the news. Pleistoanax was one of the few commanders in the fleet that he knew could be counted upon to come through when times were tough.
    “Excellent, put it up on my screen,” he replied.
    The video feed appeared instantly from the scout cruiser being commanded by the second topoteretes. The face of the man appeared, but his expression suggested bad news. From the angle of the feed, it was difficult to see what was going on inside the cruiser. He couldn’t see the red glow of emergency lighting though, and there were no signs of battle or distress in the crew.
    “Topoteretes, I assume by your expression you don’t have good news for me?”
    There was a short pause, but it wasn’t clear if that was due to the distance, or simply down to the commander considering his response. Like Clearchus and Kleandridas, he wore his Laconian regalia, including full body armour and crimson cloak.
    “No, Strategos, my scout group has performed a full scan of the area, and we can confirm the lack of resources due to the destruction of the planets. With most of the fleet down to less than half tanks, we need more before continuing much further into Median space. The next point is fifteen parsecs away, but there are no guarantees we will be able to refuel there, and that is a problem, a big problem.”
    Clearchus looked confused at his last statement. Their route followed the standard Artis routes, and each point should be between five and fifteen parsecs away. They should be able to make at least one more, perhaps two more jumps with the remaining fuel.
    “I don’t understand, why not?”
    “The next location was being used as a stopover point for Median transports two years ago. There is a possibility that it is being used as a base of operations. The only other options are to expend all of our fuel in a single jump to one other sector. My estimates show that only half the ships in the fleet can make a jump of that distance. We’ll have to leave the rest behind and risk the remainder in one movement.”
    “That isn’t