Dustmaker

Story so far

The Dustmaker is Helios au Lux's immense moonBreaker and one of the Rim Dominion's most powerful warships. Diomedes commands it while Helios scouts ahead, then formally returns its Cestus and imperium when the apparent consul arrives at Kalyke. The transfer gives Atlas, wearing Helios's face and a grafted arm, direct command of the ship's systems.

Atlas's Gorgons clear the bridge, implant a Helminth, and use the ship's guns and reactor during the armada's carefully arranged contraction. With the Dragon Song just hundreds of meters away and both ships' shields down for stealth, the Dustmaker's point-blank rail and atomic salvos break Dido's flagship. Atlas then orders its guns and torpedo tubes to cripple nearby Dominion ships before the ambush force emerges.

The betrayal turns the Dustmaker from the armada's anchor into a target for the very fleet it has maimed. Rim ships begin hammering its shields while Atlas holds the bridge long enough to set the larger trap in motion, leaving the vast vessel damaged but still central to the chaos.

Appearance

A colossal Rim moonBreaker, larger than the Dragon Song, with enormous anti-ship guns, torpedo tubes, a protected bridge, a private hangar, and the Cestus-linked command systems expected of a flagship.

Role

The Dustmaker is the stolen heavy weapon that makes Atlas's concealed invasion immediately catastrophic rather than a conventional fleet engagement.

Relationships