Void Ship Name: Distant Sun

  Void Ship Type: Lathe Class Monitor Cruiser

  Imperium Standard Design:

  Length 4.2 km, Width 0.5 km, Total Volume 1.062 billion m2

  5 Decks 100m Tall (2 Spineward, 1 Main, 2 Keelward), 0.010 billion m2, 1.050 billion m3 total

  2 Citadel Decks 100m Tall, 125,000 m2 total, 0.013 billion m3 total

  0 Superstructures

  Standard Crew: 70,000 (35,000 Human, 35,000 Servitor) (c0026)

  Standard Defenders: 30,000 Skitarii (c0026)

  Primary Machine Spirit: Aruna (c0015)

  Designation: LATHE.v.1.56.X468390M39 (Commissioned: 20 June 38,390) (c0015)

  Builder and Sponsor: Forgeworld Belacane (c0015)

  History (c0015):

  The Distant Sun has been stranded for eighty years, by the ship's time. During warp travel, we collided with a space hulk and our gellar field was weakened to 48% for 0.2 seconds, before recovering to 64%, then slowly climbing back to 80%, where it has remained.

  During the short period the field was below 50%, the ship was invaded by warp entities, which slaughtered or possessed 99% of the crew over a four-month battle before they were finally defeated. Many dead were repurposed as servitors, creating a literal and metaphorical skeleton crew to maintain the ship and replenish security. Only 11%, or 453, of these servitors are now functional.

  Once the Distant Sun was in order, half of the remaining live crew and officers embarked on an expedition to the space hulk to examine the impact point and gather supplies.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  This action brought them into conflict with the varied forces on the space hulk, who, over two years, whittled the remaining crew down to 79 individuals, none of whom possessed the knowledge or means to safely detach the Distant Sun from the space hulk.

  No remaining crew knew how to fire the weapons or if doing so would damage the vessel, and the crew no longer had the forces to cut the vessel free internally, or a way to cut through from the outside without exposing themselves to the warp.

  Desperate and divided, the crew turned on each other. Twelve individuals survived the internal strife and eventually died from old age. The last died three years ago.

  “I will call you Aruna then, after the charioteer of Surya, God of the Morning Sun in Hindu mythology, an ancient faith on Terra. Is this acceptable?” - Aldrich (c0015)

  The auto-temple is towards the stern on deck #S3/-2/Q3, meaning of the five primary decks radiating from the central line, it’s on the outermost deck along the spine of the ship, hence ‘#S3’ for spine deck two. It has two subdecks keelward. (c0015)

  The crew reclamation facility is above the hangar, #K2/+1/Q2. (c0016)

  “Codes accepted... Captaincy confirmed... Magos Explorator Aldrich Isengrund has control.” - Aruna (c0019)

  Distant Sun is freed from the space hulk. (c0023)

  Aldrich begins to remove automation traps so Aruna can take control of Distant Sun. (c0026)

  Seven kill switches found and disabled (c0027)

  Aruna takes full control of Distant Sun. First machine spirit to do so under Aldrich (c0030)

  Complete Stellar Fleet Design Refit underway (c0132)

  Fortunately, I have filled out my crew for the Distant Sun, all twenty-eight thousand of them, supplemented by forty-two thousand servitors. This is a little higher than the original crew complement of twenty-five thousand humans and thirty-five thousand servitors. I need the extra labour as the Distant Sun functions as a training ship and as a hub for all my activities on Marwolv. All of my human crew have received at least two years of accelerated learning, via implants, sims, teaching engines, and personalised learning using machine-spirits. I would liken each crew member to having at least a master's degree in one science alongside practical training for at least two different crew roles. They aren’t tech-priests, nor are they traditional voidsmen, which is why I often refer to them as tech-adepts, tech-priests who are still undergoing structured learning, but have enough skills and knowledge to perform well at their given role. Out of those twenty-five thousand crew, roughly eight thousand count as full tech-priests, individuals who have passed a doctorate equivalent in one subject and have specialised as enginseers, artisans, logis, and other recognisable imperial roles to further their learning. I don’t expect all of my crew to become tech-priests, as that level of dedication requires exceptional drive and interest. Most will likely remain as tech-adepts, my brand of elite voidsmen, perhaps picking up necessary knowledge and earning their tech-priest qualifications on the job over a much longer period of time, say, twenty years or so. (c0061)

  Source Chapter: “(c9999)”

  Thank you for reading.

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  Thanks,

  Brian