Slave of the Legion

was formed to accomplish those objectives.

PART 1 MARCHING IN THE MUD

Chapter 1 An Island in the Vac

'ATTENTION UNREGISTERED STARCRAFT! YOU HAVE ENTERED A WAR ZONE! YOU ARE PRESUMED HOSTILE BY MILITARY UNITS OF THE CONFEDERATION OF FREE WORLDS! IDENTIFY YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY OR WE WILL FIRE!'

'ATTENTION STARSHIP P.S. MAIDEN! IT HAS ENTERED AN ACTIVE COMBAT ZONE WITHOUT PERMISSION, IN VIOLATION OF USICOM INTERSTELLAR SHIPPING REGULATIONS! THIS IS DEFCOM ULDO COMMAND! REQUEST AN IMMEDIATE EXPLANATION OF ITS PRESENCE!'

'ATTENTION STARSHIP P.S. MAIDEN! THIS IS DEFCOM ULDO TRAFFIC CONTROL! PROCEED IMMEDIATELY INTO THE ORBIT INDICATED AND DO NOT DEVIATE OR YOU MAY COME UNDER ATTACK BY HOSTILE OR FRIENDLY FORCES! THIS IS AN ACTIVE COMBAT ZONE AND WE CANNOT GUARANTEE ITS SAFETY! PLEASE NOTE THAT ITS ALL-THREAT INSURANCE HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED!'

'ATTENTION!' the ship informed us briskly, 'WE ARE BEING TARGETED FOR ATTACK! LEGION FIGHTERS LOCKING ON! AUTOFIRE AND ANTIMAT TORPEDOES LIVE AND LOCKED! DEFCORPS FIGHTERS ALSO LOCKING ON—LOCKED! ARMAMENT LIVE AND LOCKED! SYSTEM STARFLEET CRUISER ALSO LOCKING AND TARGETING! ULDO PORT DOWNSIDE DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS ALSO LOCKING ON AND TARGETING!'

The messages boomed through the Personal Ship Maiden, rattling the cenite walls; they came so fast that there was barely time to breathe, much less respond. We had just exited stardrive, quite a respectable distance from the Uldo System, but apparently not quite far enough. We had plenty of reasons to be worried about our reception, especially from the Legion. The P.S. Maiden was, by now, well known as a slave ship, and there was nothing the Legion liked better than killing slavers. We were hopeful we would get enough time to explain our presence in this particular ship.

'Welcome to Uldo,' Dragon grinned. I could tell he was feeling at home already. Dragon was almost certainly the perfect Legion trooper. War was his natural element. I felt better when he was around, even though I knew he was a professional killer. He had curly black hair, deeply tanned skin and the look of a hungry tiger. He was practically irresistible to the ladies. Colorful tattoos decorated his knuckles and earlobes.

'Attention, Legion units,' Tara called out. 'Please hold its fire! This is the Personal Ship Maiden, registered with USICOM. We are a private yacht, transporting a Legion element back to its parent squad. Attention, System units, we are under Legion control and are not here voluntarily. Repeat, we are not hostile—please hold its fire. We are complying with its orbit instructions.' Tara lived a dangerous life. She was on the Legion death list as a notorious slaver, but I knew she was also a secret Legion asset. She was an old friend, a stunningly beautiful, half- Assidic girl with lustrous auburn hair, pale brown flesh and mysterious Assidic eyes. I prayed for her soul, every day of my life.

'ATTENTION SYSTEM STARSHIP P.S. MAIDEN ! MAINTAIN YOUR COURSE TO THE REQUESTED ORBIT! PREPARE TO BE BOARDED BY LEGION UNITS!'

'Confirm, Legion. We are maintaining course.'

'Look—there's Uldo!' Whit called out. It loomed dead ahead in the bridge viewport, a tiny, shimmering green orb, encircled by a silky, sparkling ring of cosmic dust. A lovely world, I thought—another precious haven for our fragile species in a hostile universe. Uldo—the name was familiar. They had told us about Uldo in Basic. What had they said?

'Well, we're alive so far,' Whit commented. Tara's XO was a slim little blonde who had just undergone a perilous ordeal on Katag, a Systie world she recently visited due to a combination of greed and stupidity. We liberated her with duplicity, violence, murder and bribery. I hadn't enjoyed it one bit. But we owed Tara—and now Whit owed us.

'Deadman,' Dragon said. 'Look at all the traffic!' I glanced at the orbital readout. The screen flickered with a bewildering array of brightly-colored, multilayered orbital tracks marked with ship designations, data readouts and warning notices. I had never seen such a crowded screen. Thousands of spacecraft were circling this world like deathbirds over a corpse. A dull wave of resignation slowly washed over me. We were home at last, I knew, and this was exactly where we belonged. A world was dying, momentous events were underway below; we were to be dropped right into it. Squad Beta was down there somewhere, in the mud, and we were going to join them. Only then would I feel complete, encased in an A-suit, with an E in my arms.

'A Legion cruiser—look!' Priestess was excited, trying to decipher the layers of rapidly changing data blinking on the d-screen. Priestess was a Legion medic and my eternal love. She was a slim, lovely girl with silky black hair and limpid brown eyes. I had no defenses against her.

'Legion fighters—look at all those fighters!' Dragon sounded pleased. He was back in his element, all right.

'Deadman, look—look at that carrier!' I said. 'And that's a Legion battlestar!'

'Major Systie forces as well—I don't believe this! There can't be that many ships!'

'Some of those are deceptors, guys—a lot of deceptors. Don't forget, there's a war on.'

'Who are those guys?' A shower of red sparks, falling slowly down to the atmosphere.

'Those are the O's,' Tara said quietly. 'You remember them from Mongera.'

'Look—an engagement!' The screen lit up. Antimats, winking on and off, and a ship, suddenly gone.

'Who was that?'

'I didn't see it.'

'Well, they're gone—whoever they were.' Cosmic junk, sparkling on the screen. Blink once and you're gone. They taught us that in Basic, too.

'Legion fighters still locked on,' the ship informed us. 'System forces have lifted lock-on.' This was certainly a first. The United System Alliance was cooperating with the Confederation of Free Worlds to combat the Omni horde. I disapproved—I didn't trust the Systies for an instant. But I was only a Legion trooper. Nobody cared what I thought.

Uldo grew slowly in the bridge viewport as we approached. It was a galactic jewel, an icy green pearl with a ring of diamond dust. I knew nothing of Uldo at that point except that it was absolutely beautiful and had been chosen as the battleground where the Legion was going to stop the Omni advance.

'Quite a battle in deep space—look at that!' Off beyond the orbiting spacecraft the screen sparkled with antis, as hunter packs of Legion fighters darted into swarms of Omni ships. The battle for control of the vac was still underway.

Well why not, I thought. If we are to die, let it be for Uldo. I had no home except the Legion. And Uldo was so lovely—symbolic, perhaps. An island in the vac, besieged by the Horde. Fine, let us die for Uldo. Our fathers died fighting the O's—now it's our turn.