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It is not cowardly or paranoid to jump at shadows if a real threat exists.
The large unidentified battleship appeared in dead space far outside of the Chapterhouse system. It hung there, scanning cautiously before moving closer.
Using long-range sensors, an incoming Guildship detected the vessel beyond any planetary orbit, a strange ship lurking where it shouldn't have been.
Always concerned about the Enemy, never knowing when or how the first attacks might occur, the Mother Commander dispatched two Sisters in a swift scout ship to investigate. The women approached tentatively, making their intention apparent in a nonthreatening way.
The strange battleship opened fire and destroyed the scout as soon as it came within range. The pilot's last transmission said, 'It's a warship of some kind. Looks like it's been through seven hells, severely damaged—' And then the message cut off in a flash of static… In a grim mood, Murbella assembled her military commanders to formulate a swift and massive response. No one knew the identity or armaments of the intruder, whether it was the long-expected Outside Enemy or some other power.
But it was a definite threat.
Many of the former Honored Matres, including Doria, had been spoiling for a fight in the four years since the Battle of Junction. Simmering with violence, the Honored Matres felt that their military abilities were growing stagnant. Now, Murbella would give them a chance to make up for it.
In a matter of hours, twenty attack ships—which had been part of the Chapterhouse space navy since the days of Bashar Miles Teg—accelerated out of the system. Murbella led them, despite the warnings and complaints of some of her more timid Bene Gesserit advisors, who wanted her to stay out of danger.
She was the Mother Commander, and she would take charge of the mission. It was her way.
As the New Sisterhood's ships swooped closer, Murbella studied the images resolving on her screens, noting the dark scoring along the intruder's hull, the bright emissions of power leakage from damaged engines, the large holes blasted where contained atmosphere had vented into space.
'It's a wreck,' transmitted Bashar Wikki Aztin from her own attack ship.
'But a deadly one,' noted an adjutant. 'It can still shoot.'
Like a wounded predator, Murbella thought. It was a large craft, much bigger than her attack ships. Studying scanner screens, she recognized part of the design as well as a battle sigil on the heat-damaged hull. 'It's an Honored Matre ship, but not from any of the assimilated groups.'
'Does it belong to one of the rebel enclaves?'
'No… this is from beyond the edge of the Scattering,' she transmitted. 'From far beyond.'
Over the decades, a great many Honored Matres had swept into the Old Empire like locusts, but their numbers were far greater out among the distant worlds.
Honored Matres existed in independent cells, isolated from other groups not only for their own protection, but from a natural xenophobia.
Apparently the strange vessel had blundered into this section of space.
Judging by its appearance, the battleship had been too severely damaged to make it all the way to its intended destination. Chapterhouse, specifically?
Or just any habitable planet? 'Remain outside of firing range,' she warned her commanders, then adjusted her commsystem. 'Honored Matres! I am Murbella, the legitimate Great Honored Matre, having assassinated my predecessor. We are not your enemy, but we do not recognize your ship or its markings. You destroyed our scouts unnecessarily. Open fire again at your own peril.'
Only silence and static answered her.
'We're going to board you. This is my command as Great Honored Matre.' She edged her ships forward, still receiving no response.
Finally a haggard, stern-looking woman appeared on the communications screen, her expression as sharp as broken glass. 'Very well, Honored Matre. We will not open fire—yet.'
'Great Honored Matre,' Murbella said.
'That remains to be seen.'
Moving cautiously, with their weapons systems powered up and ready to respond, the twenty New Sisterhood ships closed in around the large battle-scarred hulk. On a private channel, Doria signaled, 'We could easily just crawl through a hole in the hull.'
'I'd rather not be seen as attackers,' Murbella replied, then transmitted on an open channel to the unnamed captain of the Honored Matre battleship, 'Do your docking bays still function? How severe is your damage?'
'One docking bay is serviceable.' The captain provided instructions.
Murbella told Bashar Aztin and half of her ships to remain outside as guardians while she guided the other ten in to face the survivors of what must have surely been a horrific battle.
When she and her comrades emerged in the docking bay, Murbella faced thirteen battered-looking women, all of them in colored leotards. Many still sported bruises, barely healed injuries, and medical patches.
The woman with the broken-glass expression had her left hand wrapped in healing strips. Ever suspicious, Murbella suspected she might be hiding a weapon in the bandaging, but it was unlikely; Honored Matres considered their own bodies to be weapons. This one glowered at Murbella and her team, some of whom were dressed as Bene Gesserits, others in the trappings of Honored Matres.
'You look different… strange,' the captain said. Orange flecks appeared in her eyes.
'And you look defeated,' Murbella snapped. Honored Matres responded to force rather than conciliation. 'Who did this to you?'
The woman answered with scorn. 'The Enemy, of course. The Enemy who has been hounding us for centuries, spreading plagues, destroying our worlds.' She showed skepticism in her face. 'If you do not know this, then you are no Honored Matre.'
'We are aware of the Enemy, but we have been in the Old Empire for a long time. Much has changed.'
'And apparently much has been forgotten! You look as if you've grown soft and weak, but we know the Enemy has been in this sector. We have explored to the best of our abilities in this damaged ship. We found several planets that were clearly charred by Obliterators.'
Murbella did not correct her, did not tell the captain that those planets—no doubt Tleilaxu or Bene Gesserit worlds—had been destroyed by Honored Matres themselves, and not by the Outside Enemy.
Warily, Murbella stepped forward, wondering if these thirteen Honored Matres were all that had survived on the entire battleship. 'Tell us what you know of our mutual Enemy. Any information will help us in our defenses.'
'Defenses? You cannot defend against an invincible foe.'
'Nevertheless, we shall try.'
'No one can stand against them! We must flee, seize whatever we can for our survival, and move faster than the Enemy can pursue us. You must know this.'
Her bruised eyes narrowed; the broken glass of her expression seemed to sharpen even more. 'Unless you are not truly an Honored Matre. I do not recognize these others or their strange clothing, and you have a foreign manner about you… ' She looked as if she wanted to spit. 'We all know that our Enemy has many faces. Is your face among them?'
The Honored Matre strangers tensed and coiled, then flung themselves upon Murbella and her followers. These outside Honored Matres did not know the superior fighting abilities of the unified New Sisterhood, and they were also weary and scarred. Even so, desperation heated their violence.
After the bloodbath, four of Murbella's comrades lay dead on the deck before the rest of her crew subdued and killed all of the Honored Matres, except for the captain.
