Chapter 16 | Landing Page | Chapter 18

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The White Beast

A Homeworld Fanfiction

by Crobato

Originally posted April 26, 2001

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Chapter 17

The star was dim, old, a lonely red dwarf in a region of space where there was only a few stars. Around it orbit clouds of gas held together by electronic magnetic forces. Once in a while, a flare would erupt from the surface of the red dwarf, its flames igniting the auras within the clouds. In the lonely eons this was the only song the star gave, an oasis in the darkness, a sole guardian of light. The dense clouds that contained dark matter had stayed adrift for eons, existing without a purpose, matter that never formed into a gas giant, never ignited into a nebula where stars were born. It was a place that never saw life.

A new visitor came and disturbed its ages old solitude.

The new creature sought to feed its hunger among the rich clouds. After it satiated itself, it gave birth to a child it called the Deliverer, and the Deliverer went away with the multitude of tiny living creatures in the giant vessels.

Chapter 15 | Landing Page | Chapter 17

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The White Beast

A Homeworld Fanfiction

by Crobato

Originally posted April 26, 2001

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Chapter 16

Zural watched over the three dimensional battlemap on the conference room of his Qwaar Jet class heavy cruiser, the Irkan. The ship used to belong to Taiidan Imperials but Zural had it sequestered when the Imperials could not afford to pay the “bill” for his services and stay. The conference room, used for discussing strategies, was fit for the last Taiidan Emperor himself, or the highest nobles of the once proud Imperial Navy. It had all the top flight communications and modeling equipment, a luxury one doesn’t see on barren and spartan Raider ships.

Next to him were the holographic darkly robed figures that were supposed to represent the Thousand Voices of the Tiamat. The way the tiny voices fill the room randomly, it all gave him the creeps. He deeply feared them as one would fear the unknown, the demons, or the ghosts of the dead. Yet there was something coldly logical about the Tiamat, a clear understanding of what they are, and what they must do.

A voice from the darkness said to him, “Now, we are on sight of the Turan planetoid. It’s conquest would provide us a strategic strait between the Rim areas and the inner galaxy.”

Chapter 14 | Landing Page | Chapter 16

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The White Beast

A Homeworld Fanfiction

by Crobato

Originally posted April 26, 2001

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Chapter 15

Zha was asleep, when the door suddenly opened, linkages delivering a series of strong metallic clinks. She pranced up, eager and alert to any threat, despite being sleeping moments eariler.

The robed caretakers came in, holding a silvery one piece suit.

“You are ordered to change into this,” he bluntly said.

“What is that?” she blurtly asked.

“That is not for you to question. Take off your clothes now.”

Zha held the thin silvery suit, which seemed to be made of an elastic membrane that conducts electricity. The suit will only cover her body, but not the length of her arms and legs, as well as much of her back. It seemed far from modest.

Chapter 13 | Landing Page | Chapter 15

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The White Beast

A Homeworld Fanfiction

by Crobato

Originally posted April 26, 2001

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Chapter 14

Even though she was his rival, Giirsa had known Kuo’ran for a long time in the Academy, an intelligent and spunky student who wasn’t afraid to voice her opinion. Then to watch her body slump mindlessly across the seat of that fighter, eyes wallowing, her mouth foaming and drooling, her very consciouness and intelligence broken or stolen by that thing, whatever they had on those ships— that was too much even for the diplomatic Giirsa. He lost his cool.

He ended paying for that outburst of temper with another terrifying discovery. He was thrown onboard what seems to be a slave ship. With the help of the For’lym, the Nemesis had been gathering slave labor to build a massive underclass to run their cities, mines, farms, and factories deep in the Abyss. And it had been that way for millenia. This time, the For’lym had been actling like the true despicable pirates of old—raiding ships, bases, and planets to provide that cheap slave labor no technology has learned to replace. It was part of the convenient agreements the Nemesis had with the For’lym, and which perhaps it looked to extend with alliances to the other Raider houses. He had noted that among the slaves, there were Raiders too. Apparently the For’lym would stoop low enough to raid their fellow other Houses for a cheap supply of live bodies.

Chapter 12 | Landing Page | Chapter 14

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The White Beast

A Homeworld Fanfiction

by Crobato

Originally posted April 26, 2001

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Chapter 13

“Now is the time of decision,” X’on said. “No matter how small, allies are precious. Join me, with the Nemesis and the White Beast as we purged the Unbound and rebuild the glory of the Imperium. Or be like the Harkk’hah, joining the unconscionable Tiamat and the insane Sekmet with their planet destroyers, preserving their legacy of tampering the histories of rising peoples, in order to cut them down to size and seeding their philosophies of chaos and rebirth.”

Zha smiled then rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “No offence, but I really don’t care much about millennia old feuds. I am trying to build a life here, with one measly outpost, one measly carrier and a few frigates. Count me out; I ‘m too small to have any effect on the scheme of things. In a way, I sympathize with you as we are spiritual kindred, yet you are the Enslavers. If you can retain your grudge and your dreams of empire throughout all the millennia, what about your dreams of enslavement? As far as I can see, you have this Beast creature that I thought was long destroyed, a creature that killed my father. My own father, dammit, and you Mahar, I consider you an accomplice with what I personally consider as murder. On the other hand, you got the Tiamat and their planet destroyers. I have had my run ins with the Tiamat, and to say the least, they’re not the nicest people.”

Chapter 11 | Landing Page | Chapter 13

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The White Beast

A Homeworld Fanfiction

by Crobato

Originally posted April 26, 2001

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Chapter 12

There was no word from the recon frigate. Patrols with the Vagabond class scouts turned out nothing. His senses were telling Seejuk that something had gone terribly wrong, but there was no confirmation. His heart felt like it was in a grip of an iron vice. Zha’s great sense of confidence lulled him into thinking the trip was okay. What was he thinking? That was against his better judgement. If Giirsa and Kuo’ran was lost too, the Kaalel and Sjet Kiiths would have his head up as a trophy. He cannot eat, and he cannot sleep. The anxiety and worry were draining him and at this rate, he thought he would die of a heart attack.

No, stay here, he ordered. We must wait. They will come back. Or so he thought. The Mule, the Marauder and the frigates stayed cloaked or mimicing rocks in a far away asteroid belt. There were patrols of these strange fighters, and Maalasi were using long range scans on them from the Marauder. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave or go anywhere.

Chapter 10 | Landing Page | Chapter 12

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The White Beast

A Homeworld Fanfiction

by Crobato

Originally posted April 26, 2001

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Chapter 11

“We may have a problem,” Zha softly stated. “Enemy ships are coming to our position.”

“I thought we’re in cloak mode,” Zhura said.

“Yes we are, but somehow they still found us,” Zha said. “I can feel their presence, and they can feel mine. It’s my fault. I may have underestimated what a Starfarer can do.”

“Don’t take the blame,” Salim said. “It’s mine. Our legends say there are ways to counter those who can hear the song of the stars.”

“And how do you do that?” Kuo’ran asked.

Chapter 9 | Landing Page | Chapter 11

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The White Beast

A Homeworld Fanfiction

by Crobato

Originally posted April 26, 2001

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Chapter 10

“Don’t tell me that you did!” Seejuk cried out.

“Yes, we did,” Maalasi grinned. “Oh boy, yes we did.”

A three dimensional schematic model of the Bentusi Ringship hovered in midair above the holo-projector. “We scanned the ship.”

“You do know that the Bentusi will someday get your for this. And? So? What did you find out anyway?” Seejuk asked with a tone of voice sarcastic enough to doubt that Maalasi would be able to understand what he had scanned.

“Well, the ship was extensively damaged to get useful information on many of the systems and technologies,” Maalasi said. “Unfortunately… But…but..it did give us an idea what we may be dealing with…”

Maalasi took a pointer which he began to use to refer to the different parts of the Bentusi Ringship model.

Chapter 8 | Landing Page | Chapter 10

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The White Beast

A Homeworld Fanfiction

by Crobato

Originally posted April 26, 2001

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Chapter 9

It was supposed to be an unevent day for the life of Sha Zural of Harkk’hah, as his Qwaar-jet heavy cruiser cruised back to their planetoid base. The last Festivities didn’t go well for the Harkk’hah as they had hoped, but it’s just festivities nothing more. But he has his share of delightfully memorable scandals. The best of the Harrk’hah pilots lost to a girl, who just happens to be the Segura of Khor. To make matters worst, the girl attacked the pilots with a wrench after the competition, and in the ensuing scuffle, injured his pilots and herself. Zural smiled. The young Segura upstart had a lot of pep and attitude. One day if she’s older, and when the House of Khor has recovered some of its former power, he might consider doing a political alliance against the other conspirational factions in the Council. At least he was content that the Harkk’hah pilots finished ahead of their old time rivals, the For’lym.

Zural watched the stars. He can see his fleet, mostly frigates and transports led by a Lord class carrier. The beautiful Qwaar-jet was his special prize, a Taiidani Imperial Heavy Cruiser he unceremoniously took over from its former owners when they stopped being useful for him. He also took over a Saarkin-Cho carrier and a number of Skaar-Tel and Skaar-Fa destroyers, boosting his total firepower beyond those allowed by Treaty of House. For a bonus, he shipped his former Imperialist allies to the Republican war criminal hunters in a classic backstabbing move that net him a large monetary bonus. The double cross also puts him way ahead in asking political favors from nearby Republican planetary governors. He thought about that scandal with the Flo’karr scribe right in the oath taking. He wasn’t sure about that Nemesis thing the scribe was babbling about, but the scribe was certainly right about the Houses bypassing the ship tonnage Treaty.

Chapter 7 | Landing Page | Chapter 9

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The White Beast

A Homeworld Fanfiction

by Crobato

Originally posted April 26, 2001

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Chapter 8

The festivities over, the immense Raider armada that settled around the Turan planetoid began to depart, each fleet and task force, on to their own business. Compared to the noise the festivities brought, the departures was peaceful and quiet. As the Turan planetoid itself, it has settled back to its ordinary day to day business. The hawkers, as usual, remained to peddle their wares, as the planetoid represents an important trading post in this wild frontier of the galaxy. Mercenaries from all over the Galaxy and of all races, and not just of Raider persuasion, began to return to the planetoid, searching for job opportunities. The parking space of the planetoid as well as its docking bay, began to swamped by all sorts of unidentifiable craft from all over the galaxy. The Mule stayed. There was still some unfinished business.

A Flo’karr worker led Seejuk, Zha, Kuo’ran, Giirsa and Zhoan into the bowels of the planetoid, and there, the long age of the planetoid began to show. The tunnels were crudely cut out of the rock, then the surfaces glazed with what must be a hot torch into a glasslike surface to trap the air. The air was pungent like a crypt, there was a smell of methane and ammonia, and the ventilation tubes leaked with brown clouds. The ventilation and electrical equipment looked vintage, Seejuk thought, something like one would see in Kharak a hundred years before the Mothership launched. Yet Seejuk thought, it’s possible that this equipment here may be thousands of years old. As they passed by the tunnels, lit by inefficient incandescent devices, a few people walked by them, and Seejuk guessed they to be maintenance engineers.