The Last Log of Captain Xceden

Reviewer: High Librarian Strenis Sforden Dekaneis
Date: Day 421 of year 10270 LST
Subject: To The Last
Author: Captain Amtius Xceden - Aboard Class VI Spire Ship Sevilius7235
Note: Has been edited and filed by the Watchmaker

These final days, well, they weren't unexpected. The Extemos, those horrible beings of shadow and darkness, had been pushing towards the core for years. Some of the Tacticians say that this is their last great crusade against us,that they have some kind of advantage this time. I woulden't know. I've heard the legends, about how they have attacked as here in the past, how they even broke through the outer core of the Worldship thousands of years ago.

I sit here, gazing upon the inner surface of the Worldship. Such a majestic thing, so massive! To think that humans were able to construct something as large as a solar system! I had read in the archives of the Librarious that mankind was the last creation of a weak diety. To think that we now defend the lives of entire races, it makes me proud.

My ship, the Sevilius, has been orderd to defend one of the outer worlds of the internal planet cluster. The Tactical Council must really be worried if they are deploying inside the armor of the Worldship, and it has my men scared. They know whats going on, well, at least that something is going on, and I suppose we are expected to fight the Extemos. Our battle group has never had to fight those demons. We were normally deployed at rebellions, emergencies, and other internal affairs and we lack any actuall battle experience besides shooting down stray fighters attempting to leave the orbit of a rebellious planet.

The fact that they even rebel amazes me. If they weren't under the protection of the Legion, then the Extemos would have already devoured them. Somtimes, I guess, its easy to forget.

Most of the crew have made their peace and said their last wishes, not expecting to survive the upcoming conflict. I myself have sent a letter to my husband, an administrator on one of the farm-worlds closer to the Generator. He hasen't responded, I guess hes busy with the preparations for evacuation and emergency medical care. I remember how much I love him. When we first met years ago, he was kind and caring, not like the other hotheads in officer training. They were so self rightious, but he diden't care about rank or titles, he honestly just wanted to help people, eventually changing his mind and dropping out, but standing behind me when I wanted to continue. I can still remember the look of joy in his face as he watched the departure ceromony of the Sevilius.

Now it is only the quiet of waiting, of the calm before the storm. The fleets of the Legion stand ready, the soldiers prepped, the magicians charged, the mechanics overclocking, the psyckers tensed, the mutants high on pheromones. The planet were orbiting is called Barramus, a little dustbowl with high metal reserves and a population of over ten million. Thats ten million people my battle group is defending from death. Were the only force stationed here, and if we should fall, then those people should surely perish.

I get a ping through the network of something approaching the Worldship at high speed. The main batteries fire, and what I can now make out as a single massive spear of matter breaks apart into shards the size of gas giants.

[At this point, the standard battle procedure take over on the ships computer, so I have taken the liberty of splicing in a record from the Captain's personal interface device.]

There are so many of the damn bastards. Literally an asteriod belt of black shards streched between here and the fissure in the shell. They managed to crack it cleanely enough, and are now just pouring through. A few of the shards haven't been broken up by the heavy weapons yet and remain the size of planets. Our battle group is taking losses but holding. I order the shield brodcaster brought online. It limits out firing ability, but now our allies with heavy weapons don't have to worry about taking damage. They pour on the plasma fire, devastating the nearby Extemos, black crystal shattering apart into uselessness. Then a biologic shoots past us. Its the size of a small starship and resembles a squid in shape, with several arm like protbences trailing behind its central mass. At the tip of each of these is a mechanical blade, almost like a prothestic and then I realise why its here. One of the larger Extemos shards drifts closer and closer to our position, its mass intimidating, blocking out all sight. The biologic lands of the surface of the thing, dodging as the surface twists and contorts, trying to skewer the thing. It jabs two of its blades into the surface, completing a circuit and locking the material in place. Now, with the poles of the Extemos metal aligned, it can't be manipulated anymore. The biologic begins digging towards the core of the thing. Shards of the mass begin to peel away under the bio's minstrations. Then suddenly the bio is gone and their are shards of V flying everywhere. One glances off the fore shields, bringing them down to nil as another one heads streight for the bridge.

[Date: Day 423 of year 10270 LST]

The doctor says I'm lucky to have survived. The entire bridge depressureised, leaving most of the un-augmented crewmen dead. The only reson I survived was due to my biological durability augmentation and the mechanical life support components, and then, it was close.

The ship has been holding off the Extemos from Barramus for days. While I was unconcious, the large shard began to corrupt the planet, but an Assault VIII Class Craft intervied and sent it fleeing, There are a few confirmed reports of an Extemos presecence on Barramus now, but it's not anything the planetary milita can't handle.

The lights come back onlnine, looks like the engineers and priests managed to restore power. Then the sensor array goes off and a map of local space leaps into my hud, its back.

I managed to reach the bridge in time to watch it enter the sector and immedialty move towards the planet. Its dark hull shifts in the light, not a single reflection bounces off of its black surface, like a gap in space and time. We begin to review options, but the ship dosen't have much left in it. The main reactor has taken a couple shots and we can't fire the main weapons. The network interface array is also cracked, so we can't request any more power either. All I can do is feel helpless as the other couple of ships left open fire. Most have had their engines disabled, a luxury we still have. We line up for a strafing run with our side armaments.

The side of the thing is taking all we've got, then a massive beam of energy blasts past the Sevilius, the shields flickering from the wash. One of the Assault Class behind us detonates, its core overloading. They sacrificed themselves to pierece the outside of the fragment. As it continues to drift past us, I see the dark, liquid core of the Extemos craft. If only our main particle cannon was online! Then I understand what I must do. I remember the pleges I made to my husband and the Legion itself. We are the only thing that stands between good people and the oblivion of the Extemos. I glance at the planet spinning so idyllicly below us, thinking of all the lives down there, all of the families, as I give the order for ramming speed.

-Amtius Xceden: Captain of Sevilius7235
[Her personal record ends at this point, however, the good Captain did in fact decide to ram her ship into the heart of that object, detonating the already unstable reactor core and rendering it completely inert, according the the master log of this conflict. Her crew and herself all perished in the detonation, as no single person voluntarily abandoned their post. This recording was one of the few recorded by the Librarius during that battle, and I lament the loss of so many other logs. It is however one of the few viable records left from that battle, and as such be preserved. For posterity, I must also note that Captain Xceden was revived by the Librarius facility once more to take command of a XIII Assault Craft during the counterattack on the Extemos. Her duty was served exellently, but sadly she was confirmed dead outside of the recording range of a librarious and will now rest peacefully for eternity.

-The Watchmaker]