Star Bourn: Vengeance Rising David Hart
Copyright © 2025 by David Hart
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First edition 2025
[TheMoonofFaal.Demon’sHead.] .
[Localsystemtime:1800.]
Withasteadybreath,GeneralOrrimoftheZauhlonLegion turnedhisgazetotheplanetabove.WhilethespeciwcsofFaal kereun;nokntohim,therekasonedetailhekasprivytoIit kaslargelyuninhabited.Nfhisleaderskeresmart,theykould colonizethekorldandeveryplanetli;eit.
Nnstead,theykerehunting.-otanimalsforsurvival,hokR ever.-o,thiskastosatiatetheirbloodlust.
xesting on one ;nee, the pair of hands on Orrim’s upper armskerepreoccupiedholdingaportablecannon.Oneofhis loker hands kas resting on his ;nee, khile the other held a smalleraAe.Heandhisteamofgruntskerelyinginkaitkithin theremainsofsomesortofbuilding.Ntkasonesmallpartof
aruinedcity.Whothisoriginallybelongedto,Orrimneither ;neknorcared.
What mattered to him kas hok closely it resembled their home korld, Luram. The kars of their ancestors destroyed manyoftheircities.Pomeendured,becomingmightystrongR holds,buttherestkerelosttotime.
Orrimglancedoverathispac;.ThegoldenRcladgruntskere gettingantsy.Vfekdidtheirbesttohideit,buttheotherskere tkitchingkithanticipation.
2erhaps more so than any form of combat, this kas the ultimatetestforazauhlon.Tositandkaitkastodenytheir true nature as karriors. Vmong Orrim’s peers in the Legion, it kas considered better to confront the enemy head on and surely die than it kas to sit in the shadoks and kait. Orrim kasn’tsofoolish,though.He;nekalittlepatiencecouldlead to a more fulwlling battle, and he kanted to teach his grunts thisfact.
The group of combatants they kere hunting, ;nokn as theMeridasGroup,kasaprivatemilitarycompanyprimarily made up of humans. They kere eARmilitary, khich already madethecomingbattlesomekhatmoreinterestingthanthe last.
”General,? one of the grunts, Serril, sighed, ”hok much longer kill you ma;e us su!erY They’re out in the open. Let usslaughterthemalreadyj?
”“alm yourself, Serril. These ruins have plenty of hidden crevices.Theycouldhaveallieskedon’thaveeyesonyet.Pee thatplazaY?Orrimpointedtosaidareao!totheleft.”Nt’sby farthelargestopenspacekithintheseruins.2erfectforadropR shippic;up.Nfthere’sanymoreofthemkedon’t;nokabout, they’ll move out of hiding and regroup kith the main party. That’skherethey’llbeheading,andkherekekillstri;e.?
”Whatma;esyoucertainthey’llgothereY?anothergrunt, qarlu;,said.
”Nfyoupaidattentiontohokthey’vebeenmovingthepast hour,you’d;noktheyaren’tfamiliarkiththeterrain.Nfthey kere using these ruins as their base of operations, ke li;ely kouldn’thavebeenabletospotthem.?
Theyoungestmemberofhisteam,Marru;,allbutKumped tohishooves.”Doesthismeanke’reheadingoutY?
Orrim couldn’t stop himself from sighing. ”qes. Move as 3uic;ly and 3uietly as you can. —eep your distance, underR stoodY?
”qes,generalj?allofthemrespondedbeforecollectingtheir keapons.
Most had heavy machine guns kith varying melee keapons5aAes and skords, mainly. Vs they leapt out of the building and onto a roof belok one by one, Orrim couldn’t helpbutpitythem.Theirimpatiencekasn’ttheirfault.While itkastruethatzauhlonskeren’tthetypetositandkait,their currentcircumstancesmadethematterkorse.
Theykereallpartofthe6otilla;noknasGorr’sWrath,led by Lord Vdmiral —orru; himself. For the longest time, they kere stationed in the Vnubis -ebula. The reason as to khy kas anyone’s guess. —orru; ;ept their mission on a strictly needRtoR;nok basis, and not even someone of Orrim’s ran; kasmadeakareoftheirpurpose.
Follokingtheoutbrea;ofbraklsacrossthe6otillalastyear, —orru; told his generals they kould dispatch hunting parR ties. V foolhardy underta;ing to 3uell their bloodlust. DeR spitekhatthelordadmiralmaythin;,Orrim;nekfullkell this kasn’t enough to satisfy the karrior instincts pumping throughtheirveins.
Vstheymovedacrosstherooftops,Orrimma;ingsurehis pac;katchedtheirsteps,hecouldn’tstophismindfromdriftR ingtoLuram.Tothedaysofhisyouth,khenhekasbutaslave, stripping one of the zauhlons’ ancient ruins for any useful resources.
Therekasnorestforanyofthem.Theblizzardthatraged those days alkays made him acutely akare of his na;edness. Cvenkithhistoughs;inandnaturalarmorplates,thecondiR tionskererough.
More than anything else, he remembered the loo; in his master’sthreekor;ingeyes.Thehatred.Thedisgust.
Orrimclutchedhisportablecannonandsneeredunderhis helmet.Longafterherosefromaslavetoagrunt,allthekay up to general, he still had to endure that loo;. That kas the realityofeveryzauhlonkhoseslavemasterkasLordVdmiral —orru;.
Enli;ealltheothersthough,Orrimfullyintendedto;eep the vok he repeated to himself on those cold and sleepless nightsI—orru;koulddie,andhekouldbecomethemaster.
GeneralOrrimkasalmostthere,too.Vzauhlonofhisran; reporteddirectlyto—orru;.HeKusthadtokaitfortheright timetostri;e.
Vfter that kould be the moment Orrim dreamed of. The reformationoftheZauhlonLegionintoatruemilitaryforce to be rec;oned kith. One not Kust ;nokn for their strength, butfortheirtacticalprokessandakeRinspiringtechnology.
The great colonization kould follok. One by one, they kould claim uninhabited korlds for themselves and plant birthingstonesunderground.Thatkay,zauhlonscouldwnalR
lybebornsomekhereotherthanLuram.Ntkouldbeaturning point in their history, but a muchRneeded step if they kere to evolve into the empire Orrim ;nek they kere destined to become.
He;nekthattheseideaskereradical,andthatvoicingthem nokkouldresultinhisdeath.Ntkasforthatreason,among many, that Orrim kas glad of his uni3ueness. Enli;e those aroundhim,hekascontenttokaitfortherighttime.
Uefore he ;nek it, they kere almost at the plaza. He moR tioned for the grunts to slok dokn, khich they surprisingly did. Maybe it kas because all of them ;nek battle kas Kust aroundthecorner.Whateverthecase,Orrimkasn’taboutto 3uestionit.
Theirpreykaskal;ingtokardthecenteroftheplaza.While therekasadegreeofcautionintheirsteps,itkasn’tasmuch asOrrimeApectedconsideringtheirmilitarybac;ground.The zauhlongeneralscannedthebuildingsnearbyforanyunseen bac;uptheymayhavehad.Tohisreliefandhisgrunts’disapR pointment,nodoubt,therekerenootherhumans.Ontopof that,therekeren’tanyothersKoiningtheminthecenter.
Withthatconwrmation,hegavehiszauhlonstheordertoatR tac;,khichtheygleefullydid.Momentsli;ethesekerekhere their youth shoked. Tko of the goldenRclad zauhlons wred theirmachineguns,missingkildlyduetotheirdistancefrom
thehumans.Theotherthreechargedinanticipationofmelee combat.
Vssatisfyingasgunningdokntheirenemiescouldbe,there kasaspecialplaceintheircultureforskordsandtheli;e.Ofall thechangesOrrimdesiredtoma;e,thatkasn’toneofthem.
The humans kere 3uic; to return wre. Their guns kere more accurate than those the zauhlon grunts had, but they keren’t strong enough to penetrate their armor. Leveling his cannon, Orrim too; a second before wring the hul;ing keapon.Thecannonballcrashedintothetorsoofthehuman o!totheright,;illinghim.
Peeingthattheycouldn’tslokthezauhlonsdokn,thehuR manseAchangedtheirgunsformachetes,readyingthemselves fortheimminentclashofblades.
With strength Orrim hadn’t eApected from them, the huR mansheldtheirgroundkhenthemeleecombatbegan.Epon theirskordsmeetingtheirenemies’machetes,asizzlingsound emanatedfromthecontact.ThiskasduetothesuperRheated edgeoftheblades,khichkascommonplaceamongallmelee keapons. Nts primary use kas to bypass personal shields, but Orrimlovedhokeasyitmadedismemberingenemies.That, andthesmellclashingbladescreated.
Enable to resist, the zauhlon general alloked himself to indulgeinsomefunandmovedintoKoinhisgruntsinmelee
combat.Uythetimehegotthere,theresultofthebattlekas clear.Despitetheirgoodshokinginthebeginning,thesehuR manskerenomatchforzauhlonstrength.ThegoldenRcladzaR uhlonskereoverpokeringthem,brea;ingbones,andcutting o!limbs.
Vs for Orrim, he focused his attention on one particular human kho had refused to unsheathe his machete, instead wring at the zauhlons kith a shotgun. Uefore the mercenary couldturnhisattentiontoOrrim,thegeneralslicedthegun inhalfkithhisaAebeforediggingitintotheman’sabdomen andliftinghimo!theground.WhenheremovedhisaAefrom hisenemy,thehumancollapsedontotheground,lifeless.
Thezauhlonsthatstayedbehindtowretheirmachineguns kerema;ingtheirkaytothecenteroftheplazaataslokpace.
Ntkascleartothemthatthebattlekasoveraskell.
Pomething interesting caught Orrim’s attention khen the lastoftheMeridasGroupmercenariesdied.Faintly,heheard oneofthedoknedhumansmuttersomething.
”Pendinbac;up'Zauhlons'arehere.?
Backup, you say? While it kasn’t impossible, Orrim preR sumedthatthesehumanskerealltherekere.Nfbac;upcould besent,theremustbemorenearby,khichmeant'
”Ulastit'Nkasn’tableto;illoneape,?qarlu;said.
”qou should have moved in 3uic;er then,? Gurrvi; shruggedallfourofhisshouldersbeforesheathinghisskord. ”Nfyoukeren’tsoobsessedkiththatgunofyours,youmight havehadsomefun.qou’llhavetokaituntiltheneAthunt.?
”We may not have to kait at all,? Orrim said, garnering the attention of the grunts. Vfter eAplaining khat he heard andkhatitcouldmean,theotherzauhlonskereroaringkith eAcitement.
”Maybethey’llsendinsomemoreformidableopponents,? Marru;suggested.
”Forgetaboutthat.Theycouldhaveabasenearby,orashipj Wecouldstri;ethatand;illthemall,?Serrilsaid.
Vt that little ounce of forethought, Orrim couldn’t help but smile. 2erhaps he kas having a positive in6uence on his zauhlons.Hecouldonlyhopeitkasn’tKustthesegrunts,and thatmoreoftheLegionkereadoptingthismindset.
”General,khatkillkedoY?Vnothergrunt,xaggun,as;ed. Thehopeandanticipationinhisvoicekerealmostpathetic, butapartofOrrimfounditendearing.
”Whatdoyouthin;Y?Whenhiszauhlonsremainedsilent, Orrimslammedhisupperrightwstintohisbreastplate,raising his voice. ”We’re going to wnd khere the apes have gathered andslaughterthemj?
Tothis,thewvegruntscheered,earningasmilefromOrrim.
”-o ma;ing brash decisions, understandY Ptic; to your strengths,and;eepyourbloodlustundercontrol.?
Orrim received a chorus of ac;nokledgments, after khich theyallfoundapileofdebristohidebehind.Withthepromise ofanevenbetterbattleonthehorizon,thegruntslaidprone kithoutma;ingasinglecomplaint.
Ntkasn’tlostonthegeneralthatthismightnotbethebest idea.DependingontheMeridasGroup’sbase,theycouldbe outnumberedtothenthdegree,meaningvictorymaynotbe attainable. Nn that event, retreat kould be necessary, and his attempt at bolstering their spirits kould’ve had the opposite e!ect.
Vlternatively,ifthiskasindeedalargerbase,hecouldtryto convince—orru;toletthisbealargerhunttobettersatiatethe zauhlons of Gorr’s Wrath. udging by hok the lord admiral hasbeenbehavingthough,hedoubteditkouldgetapproved. —orru; has denied every similar idea in recent memory, preR ferringtostayundertheradarasmuchaspossible.
Whatever his reasons kere, it kas undoubtedly lin;ed to khytheykerestationedintheVnubis-ebula. xegardlessofkhatmaylieaheadofthem,onefactremained trueIitkassuretofulwllthemmorethananymerehuntcould. Orrim kould have to be satiswed kith that and hope they keren’tkal;ingintoavorga’sden.
-ot ten minutes later, a dropship he recognized to be huR man in origin came into viek. Uy the loo;s of it, it kas a repaintedOdindropship.Thegeneralhummed.Theykould havetobecareful.
Odindropshipskerepac;edkithheavykeaponry:roc;ets, turrets,evensmartmissilesonsomeoccasions.TheykerecaR pable of carrying up to tkentyRwve personnel, meaning they couldbeinforadecentwght.
Vsitkaspreparingtoland,Orrimhadtoma;esureMarru; didn’t prematurely run o! to battle. He kas prone to doing that, and considering the Odin’s armament, that could very kellmeanhisdeath.
When the ramp lokered and only ten humans came out, Orrimsurmisedthateithertheykeren’tta;ingthezauhlonsas aseriousthreat,orkherevertheycamefromcouldn’ta!ordto sendoutmorepeople.Thelattercamekithvariousfollokup 3uestions,butnokkasn’tthetimeforthat.-ok,itkastime toshedblood.
Vllokingtheirenemiesonlysecondstodisembar;fromthe Odin, Orrim let out a belloking battle cry before wring o! three cannonballs. His grunts folloked suit, unleashing hell ontothehumans.Vstheydidso,thezauhlonscharged,racing forkardtokardthedropship.
The mercenaries tried to respond to the attac;, but they stood no chance. ust as it loo;ed li;e the Odin kas about to ta;e o!, Orrim all but threk himself into the bac; of the dropship.Withoutslokingdokn,heslammedhisupperright shoulderintothedoorseparatingthetroopbayandthecoc;R pit.
The metal door kent crashing into the coc;pit, alloking Orrim to ma;e his kay in and drag the pilot out into the troopbay.Fromthere,thezauhlongeneralsnappedtheman’s nec;beforetossinghimoutoftheOdin.Theotherzauhlons entered,chec;ingoverthekeaponsstoredinsidethedropship.
Whiletheydidso,Orrimmovedbac;intothecoc;pit.He grumbled to himself, none too thrilled about hok small it kas,thoughthatkasageneralissuekithallhumanvehicles. Turning his attention speciwcally to the controls, he sought outthe6ightlog,khichhefoundafterhalfaminute.
Withasmall,satisfactorysmile,Orrimdiscoveredkhathe kasloo;ingforIa6ightpathtokardalocationthatthisOdin returnedtotimeandtimeagain.Thiskassurelytheirbase.
Vfteranotherminuteofwnagling,heactivatedtheautopilot andhadtheOdinsetcourseforthislocation.Whenthatkas done,hemovedbac;intothetroopbay,kherethegruntskere busyarguingoverkhichhumangunpac;edthebestpunch.
”We’ll arrive at their base in eight minutes,? Orrim said. ”2repare yourselves. The longer this battle ta;es, the greater advantagethey’llhave.Humansareresourcefulthatkay.?
”qou have nothing to korry about, General,? Serril said. ”Wecanhandlesomeapes.?
”Nshouldhopeso.xegardless,stayalert.Thiskon’tbeli;e theprevioushunts.?
With the troop bay ramp still lokered, any loose guns or e3uipmentfelloutoftheOdinasthedropshipgainedspeed. Theystillhadplentyofammunitionfortheirkeaponry,soit kasofnoconcerntothegeneral.Zauhlonskeren’t;noknfor chatter,suchastherah’salaruunsorgrovinians,sothe6ight kaslargelysilent.
qarlu;’s upper shoulders kere sha;ing ever so slightly. Nt kould’vegoneunnoticedbyanyoneelse,butnotOrrim.He ;nekitkasn’toutoffear,though.Nnthetimehe’s;noknthe younger zauhlon, qarlu; has never shokn an ounce of that. ThiskaseAcitement.
Orrimplacedahandonhisshouldertocalmhimdokn,but saidnothing.Vlittleanticipationkasharmless,buttoomuch andhecouldKeopardizenotKusthimself,buttherestofthem. When they kere a minute out, Orrim moved bac; to the coc;pitandkaited.Ueforetheylanded,hekantedtoseethis basekithhisoknfoureyes.
Vs they drek near, he sighed kith relief. This kas no fortressIitkasaforkardoperatingbase. udgingbythesize,it couldn’thavehousedmorethanthirtyenemies.Vsitturned out,theyhadalreadykipedouthalfoftheirpreysnumbers. Whenhereenteredthetroopbay,hewlledthezauhlonsinon theinformationandtheirplanofattac;.
Purprisekasoutofthee3uation.They’venodoubttriedto contacttheiralliestonoavail,khichmeansthearrivalofthe Odin kould be met kith suspicion. Nn khich case, a fullRon assaultkasthekaytogo.
Theykouldactfastandstri;ehard.Orrimhadn’tseenany notekorthydefenses,khichmeanttheydidn’thavetokorry aboutturretsortheli;e.Nftheykereluc;y,thehumanskould feelconwdentintheirnumbersandrefusetobac;dokn.That allokedhimandhiszauhlonstoslaythem3uic;er.
Nt kas decidedI qarlu;, Marru; and xaggun kould carry fourmachineguns5oneineachhand5khileSerril,Gurrvi; andOrrimkentinsolelykithmeleekeapons.Ppeciwcally,tko skordsintheirupperhandsandtkoaAesintheirlokerhands. Withtheirwngersonthetriggersthatheateduptheirblades, the edges of their melee keapons kere already at maAimum heatandreadyforcombat.
WhentheOdinkastenfeetabovetheground,Orrimgave thekord,andkithacombinedbattlecry,thezauhlonsleaped
outofthedropshipandtothehumansbelok.Nnthespanof seconds,chaoserupted.
Human shouts and zauhlon roars miAed into the hellish chorusoftheirbattle.Gunwrefrombothsidesbroughtpeace toOrrim’ssoul.Vsmuchashedreamedofzauhlonsadvancing andadapting,hecouldfeelthebloodlustdeepkithinpulling athim.
-omorethanaminuteafterthebattlebegan,athundering voice caught Orrim’s attention. Nn searching for its origin, it didn’t ta;e him long. Vtop the elevated platform kas, to his surprise, a rah’ salaruun. With a skord in hand, the man pointedtoOrrimandshouted.
”Uy the Eniversal Lak of Porrvu;, N challenge you to a duelj?
Orrim raised a brok, but considering the man’s race, this shouldn’thavesurprisedhim.xah’salaruunskerekell;nokn for their karrior culture, not unli;e the zauhlons. Nt kas no konderthatthismankasfamiliarkiththeirlaks.
Ender this particular lak, all surrounding combat must cometoahaltkhilethetkoparticipantsduel.-ormally,this kasusedasakayforalokerRran;edzauhlonto;illhissuperior andta;etheirran;,thoughthismostcertainlykasn’tthecase nok.
Loo;ing around, Orrim sak that most of the Meridas Grouppresentkerealreadydead.Morespeciwcally,onlytko otherslived.Pothiskasn’taboutsavinghiscomrades,inkhich caseitkasalaststand.
Orrimsizedtherah’salaruunup.Thoughhekaslarge,he couldn’tcomparetothezauhlongeneral,khostoodateight feet.Hisopponentkoreheavyarmor,khichmeantthespeed advantagekouldn’tgotohim.
Withthatassessmentinmind,Orrimhummedandtossed asidehisaAesandsecondaryskord.”Serykell.Nfthisishok youkanttodie,sobeit.?
Therah’salaruunkastednotime,choosingtochargeOrrim kithabattlecry.Thezauhlongeneraltoo;adefensivestance and bloc;ed the series of bloks. While his opponent kas by nomeansfast,hemoved3uic;erthanheinitiallyanticipated, allokingtherah’salaruuntolandsomegrazingshotsonOrR rim’sarmor.
Orrimtoo;astepbac;,buthisenemyclosedthedistance, attemptingto;eepthezauhlononthedefensive.Forthetime being, Orrim alloked it. xah’ salaruuns, khile formidable wghters, didn’t have the stamina that zauhlons or anthrum did khen it came to combat. Orrim kas more than capable ofoutlastinghim.Moreover,hecouldwndakea;spotmore easilythiskay.
Occasionally, Orrim got a piece of o!ense in, each blok staggering the rah’ salaruun. Vrmor kas chipped akay at, as kas his opponent’s conwdence. The challenger ;nek he kas beingtoyedkith,khichonlyeggedhimonfurther.
Ntkasn’tlostonOrrimthatsoonerorlater,hekouldbein thispositiononceagain.-otagainstanalien,butagainstthe lordadmiraloftheZauhlonLegion.Nnfact,hemayevenbein therah’salaruun’sposition.
—orru; kas kell ;nokn for his combat prokess, having earnedthetitle —orru;theNmmortal’becauseofhislegendary duelagainsttheanthrumVldinSare.Defeatinghimkouldn’t beasimpletas;.Evenso…
CAhaling, Orrim sidestepped his opponent, and kith all thestrengthhecouldmuster,;ic;edtherah’salaruun’s;nee, bendingitatanunnaturalangle.Thesnapkasaudible,askas his prey’s scream. Grabbing him by the nec;, Orrim landed a devastating headbutt that left the challenger dazed beyond recovery.
Evenifit’safoolhardyundertaking…
With the rah’ salaruun unable to get up, Orrim lifted his skordabovehisheadandbroughtitdoknatpracticedspeed. -ot a second later, his opponent’s head kas free from his shoulders.
Orrim removed the man’s head from his helmet, revealing thedefeatedloo;helongedtoseefromhisenemies.Holding the decapitated head high, Orrim let out a victorious roar, as did the others. They ;illed the remaining humans, khich addedtothecelebratorycries.
…IwillkillLordAdmiralKorruk,andfreemypeoplefrom this stagnation. Under my leadership, we will become the conquerorsweshould’vealreadybeen.