Empire's End

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THE RUINS OF the Imperial assault fleet fled through the "dark" between star clusters. There was one tacship carrier, two heavy cruisers, one light, their destroyer flotilla screens, and, in the center of the formation, auxiliaries and the troop transports carrying the battle-shattered remnants of the First Imperial Guards Division.

Flanking and closing the formation was the huge battleship Victory.

On its bridge, Sten stared at a strategic battlescreen, not seeing either the glow "ahead" that represented the Empire... nor the symbols to the "rear" that were the anarchy-ripped Altaic Cluster.

Two E-days earlier:

Sten: Ambassador Plenipotentiary. Personal Emissary of the Eternal Emperor. Admiral. Medals and decorations beyond count, from the Galactic Cross down, including Grand Companion of the Emperor's Household. Hero.

Now.

Sten: Traitor. Renegade. And, he thought, don't forget Murderer.

Among the symbols representing what was "behind" the Victory was one marking where the Imperial Battleship Caligula, its Admiral Mason, and over three thousand loyal Imperial sailors had been. They'd been slaughtered by Sten for following a direct order to planetbust the Altaic's capital world, an order issued in person by the Eternal Emperor.

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