HATTIE'S HARLOTS - Chapter 1

Katrina Von Der Krause had always been restless, not for her the pampered life of a "noble" hive family.  At the age of 14 she ran away (escaped as she put it) to the "under hive", there she assumed the name Hattie Sanchez and started a new life. By the time she was 21, Hattie had fought her way to the top of the hive ganger system. She had real power, not the sham of the "upper hive", but it all came crashing down with a betrayal. Hattie woke from a drug induced sleep to find herself on an Imperial Prison Ship; already deep in the warp, headed for the Penal Colony on Bassus Prime. An explosion in the engine bays severely damaged the prison ship, forcing it out of the warp. It was already little more than a smoldering scrap heap when it crashed on an uncharted planet. Hattie was one of a handful of prisoners to survive; the stasis fields has remained active, protecting them from the crash, the ship’s crew had not been so lucky, none of them survived. Among the former prisoners was Hattie’s still loyal bodyguard from the under hive, Kate Snow, Becky Williams and Sandy Bearclaw.  All told there were 33 survivors, by a strange twist of fate, all were women.  Hattie’s Harlots, the most notorious pirate band to roam Imperial Space, was born.

Scavenging the remaining weapons and equipment from the wreckage, the Harlots set about repairing the only remaining ship’s lifeboat. Without the ability to travel the warp, their only hope of getting out of this sector of space was to activate the lifeboats emergency locator transmitter. This would be a huge risk as they had no idea who would answer the distress signal. If it turned out to be a military vessel, they would end up headed for Bassus Prime again. All their hopes hung on a merchant ship responding to the signal, an "easy mark" to capture. Once again, fate smiled on Hattie, within a matter of days, dropping out of the warp, was a cargo ship.  After the captain and some of the crew were killed in a short, viscous firefight, the Harlots had their ship, which Hattie named “Maria”, in honor of her mother. The ship’s Navigator cared little whether he served the Imperium or pirates, as they were all "mere" mortals and beneath his contempt, so now they were able to leave the planet.

Dropping out of the warp, several days later, the Maria was passing through an asteroid field when one of the lookouts reported seeing people and wreckage on one of them. As the Maria got closer; a group, in Imperial Guard pressure suits, were seen setting up landing lights. Upon landing, the IG personnel picked up their equipment and headed for the Maria. Before the main personnel airlock hatch was opened, it was vox cast, in all frequencies, that they were prisoners and to leave their weapons on the ground. Opening the hatch, five of the Harlots, armed with bolt pistols, motioned for the stranded individuals to enter. After they were cycled through into the ship, the main cargo hatch was opened and all of their gear was moved inside. Hattie got down to the cargo bay after the IG personnel had been locked in Hold 1.

"What do we have?" she asked Becky Williams.

"Nine las rifles, a flamer, a plasma gun, a melta gun, cases of krak and frag grenades, and a vox caster." answered Becky.

"Who are the troops?" Hattie asked.

"Two Sergeants and nine Troopers." answered Slick Willis.  He was one of the Maria’s original crew members and one of the few people on board with experience in the Imperial Guard.

"Ok, separate the 2 sergeants and leave the troopers in the hold. I’ll have a talk with the younger one later." replied Hattie, as she headed back to the bridge.

Several days later, Hattie talked with the younger man and learned that they had been riding an assault boat which had crashed on the asteroid, killing the navy crew but leaving his IG squad alive. They had all watched; from the asteroid’s surface, in total disbelief, as the entire Imperial Naval Force passed them by and jumped into the warp.

"I’m glad you found us when you did, we only have 2 days of air left, and my name is Alex." said the sergeant.

"You have no concerns about being picked up by pirates?" asked Hattie.

"The Imperium, you mean? Screw them, after leaving us on that rock, to hell with them all." smiled Alex.

"You think the other sergeant will object?" asked Hattie.

"Sergeant Major Langsdorf?  I have no idea, the man scares the hell out of me and my men." Alex replied.

“Well, if he scares his own people, I’ll let him sit a few days longer.” thought Hattie.

When Hattie finally walked into the room, the sergeant major was held in, she found him standing in the middle of the floor facing the door.  The two of them stared at each other for several minutes.  Finally, Hattie said, “We’re pirates, you know."

"Yes," replied the sergeant, still not moving.

"I can use a man of your caliber. After this, the Imperium won’t think too kindly of you or your people." she said.

"True." answered the sergeant, still standing and still not taking his eyes off  her.

"You work out, I keep you. You don’t, I drop you at the next Imperial planet and you’re on your own." replied Hattie.

"Fair enough." said the Sergeant Major, "I want to see my people."

"Alright, come on." answered Hattie and headed out the door. "Alex was right," she thought, "he bothers me, too."  

Sergeant Major Langsdorf proved to be an incredible find for the Harlots. He became Hattie’s mentor and advisor, teaching her how to fight in the ‘outside’.  He recommended that she move Kate Snow and Becky Williams, two of the more experienced bodyguards, to lead the two squads of Harlots made up of hive gangers.  "They might be experienced gangers, but this is a totally different environment." he had explained to her.  This move had stopped a near disaster on the next raid, both of the squads would have broken and ran without the calming influence of the two older women.  He said that he and Liv Tailor, because of her extensive medical knowledge, should fill in the two empty spots.  He didn’t mention that he wanted the spot to keep an eye on his new captain.