Ride a Black Horse
Sarna News
| Ride a Black Horse | |
|---|---|
| Short story by D. G. P. Rector | |
 | |
| Publication | |
| Published | 14 March 2025 |
| Published in | Shrapnel Issue 20 |
| Publisher | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Pages | 14 |
| Chronology | |
| Era | Dark Age era |
| Timeline | 17 May 3110 |
Ride a Black Horse is a short story by D. G. P. Rector that was published in the twentieth issue of Shrapnel.
Plot Summary[edit]
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. |
A Seeker of Eridani Light Horse descent named Suero follows his necrosia-induced visions into the Deep Periphery. They show him images of a giant black horse with red eyes. Ridden by a hooded figure, it tramples whole cities underfoot and leaves dissolving ruins in its wake. Inspired by his heritage, he traces down a lead from the Amaris Civil War; when SLDF Intelligence had sent the Eridani Light Horse to a hidden world with a secret objective. They returned empty-handed but Suero is motivated to succeed where they had failed. After a year-long journey to the obscured coordinates recovered, they discovered a single dust-ridden planet orbiting a binary star system. Upon scanning the surface, they discovered un-natural ziggurats surrounding a hidden compound. Approaching the site revealed the presence of a Word of Blake remnant that began fighting back before the Seeker's retinue drove them off. Upon entering the compound, Suero and his accompanying Sage, a Castilian named Pilara, discover a Star League black site that was part of "Project Cornucopia". The project was a data mainframe hosting two sophisticated AI algorithms that dueled each other. One, symbolized by a White Horse with viridian eyes, was optimized for crossbreeding and genetically engineering customized seed crops from an agricultural database that could feed colonists on any desolate frontier. The other, symbolized by a Black Horse with crimson eyes, is a biological weapon fabricator that was optimized to create any herbicide, pathogen, or parasite with the most basic of chemical laboratories. One could feed an interstellar nation and the other can cripple it by mass famine. While both originally worked in tandem to engineer hardier crops and potent bio-weapons, Black Horse eventually gained the edge over its counterpart in terms of adaptability. Pilara is eager to explore White Horse’s capabilities in aiding the Empire’s agricultural sector but is unsettled by Black Horse’s potential as a weapon of mass destruction. Suero is indifferent to the idea of such a weapon under Imperial control but is troubled by the presence of large graveyards tied to Black Horse’s rampage in his visions.
Pilara and Suero surmise that the Eridani Light Horse had been sent to retrieve Black Horse for use against House Amaris in the Amaris Civil War or to resume the work by press-ganging the scientists back into the project. For unknown reasons, the Eridani refused to take either action and returned to the Inner Sphere to resume the fight with the Usurper. Review of the database logs also showed that survivors from the Word of Blake had crash landed from a malfunctioning JumpShip some time in the 3080's before taking sanctuary in the compound. While the site had a hydrophonics lab that could sustain them indefinitely with White Horse' seed banks, Demi-Precentor Nakir grudgingly chose to turn over half the green house to honing Black Horse's processing; rendering much of the produce poisonous or inedible. This also resulted in dozens of deaths as children and elderly like Ada or Bertolli succumbed to starvation before being buried in the greenhouse as decades passed; much to Nakir's regret and self-loathing. The last logs indicated the Blakists detected Suero's DropShip and sought to seize it. Elemental Star Commander Norizuchi then reported the Blakists were approaching the DropShip. Suero orders Malia's Mist Lynx and Zane's Phantom to defend the dropsite with the majority of the Elementals. He would remain with Rath's Elemental Point to defend the compound as Pilara secures its contents.
Outside the compound, Suero waits in his Warhawk before detecting the Blakist's command 'Mech, an Archangel. Upon challenging it, he is challenged in kind by Nakir. Nakir accuses Suero of eagerness to loot the ruins in the Clan's efforts to further their conquests towards Terra. Suero retorts it belongs to the Star League and that the Clans will safeguard it until the Star League is restored. Nakir mirthlessly mocks them both; likening both to crusaders waylaid from their holy city of Jerusalem. Both accuse each other of destruction and barbarism that would disgust their Star League forebears though Nakir's resolve wavers upon being reminded of the Jihad's failure despite their desire to reform the Star League. Suero offers amnesty to Nakir's starving warband and passage to the Scorpion Empire to join his people. But Nakir refuses and insists that if he can seize the DropShip and Jumpship, he could unleash Black Horse on the Inner Sphere and give his dying people some vindication. Suero asserts that it wouldn't give him peace and that even the Eridani refused to unleash Black Horse on the Usurper. If the Star League could not unleash such a weapon on their most heinous opponent, then their descendants, Clan or Blakist, had no right to use it freely either. Perplexed by his opponent's measured thoughtfulness, Nakir asks Suero how old he was when he had to take a human life. Suero responds that he took his first life at seventeen when he accidentally shoved his sibkin, Amina, too hard and made her break her neck on the sparring floor. Nakir confesses he took his first life at the age of nineteen when he slit the throat of a young Lyran scout in a ambush and how he could only think of how the death was such a waste.
Both silently reflect on their history as Nakir asks Suero how their fates came to this. Suero says that the Clan Founders taught that warfare was an inherent trait in human nature. When Nakir asks if he truly believes it, he hesitatingly affirms it, and Nakir interjects by saying Suero had to. Lest it lead him to concluding all humans are monsters. With that Nakir tells them their time to parley is over as their fight begins. Nakir's Archangel and Suero's Warhawk batter each other for what seems to be ages and Suero is on the brink of defeat before ordering Rath's Elementals to swarm the Archangel; crippling it. While Rath demands they tear Nakir apart, Suero tells them their fight is done. In the aftermath of the fighting, all three Blakist MechWarriors chose death in battle over surrender while less than a dozen Blakists survive as prisoners. The Seeker’s technicians did all they could to salvage what remains of the three Celestial Series OmniMechs for study. While Suero's retinue celebrates in triumph upon takeoff, Suero's victory is tainted by his regrets at failing to convince them to surrender. Yet, he also feels a sense of closure. Rather than seeking the entire database as Nakir accused or destroying it as Pilara advised, he opted to secure the computer mainframe and its algorithms while destroying the site and wiping the memory banks accrued by Black Horse's simulations; curtailing its lethality. While he could only recommend the Clan Council avoid reactivating Black Horse, he is content in knowing it is secured from misuse and he would not use it himself.
Featured Characters[edit]
- Seeker Suero
- Demi-Precentor Nakir
- Star Commander Norizuchi
- Point Commander Rath
- Pilara
- Malia
- Zane
- Amina (mentioned)
- Ada (mentioned)
- Bertolli (mentioned)