The Chase - (Part 1)

Mitsuko watched the shuttle soar into the heavens. Her prey had gotten away again. Two more years of
tracking and undercover work gone. How did he keep doing that?. She shrugged almost imperceptibly. She would find him again. For now, she needed to tend to her own.

Some of her crew were wounded, and others were in other locations in an attempt to get ahead of Xylar before he could get to a ship and get off world. He did have a knack for escape in addition to being able to sense a trap, usually at the expense of his own crew. She looked over at the captured and dead crewmates of Xylar's. One was writhing in obvious agony while clutching his head, but didn't have any visible wounds. That's okay. She had that effect on men sometimes.


There was one casualty amongst her own people. Xylar had shot him twice in the chest before everyone was in place before springing the trap. Once her team was collected, she would have a proper funeral and commit his body to the stars. Tomas would have liked that. She knew them each by name. She considered them all friends.

They caught him again 3 years later running a spice mine scam on a quiet little moon. She had last seen him riding on one of the local beasts out of town after he'd had saboteurs disable her own ship.

She had him for certain on Marth where he'd been dealing in illicit mind altering substances. She had him face to face. So close she could see the sweat pouring from his brow, smell the sickly sweet stench of him. She couldn't quite place the scent but it was familiar. On some unseen signal from him, snipers broke cover and fired at her crew. Two of her own men died that night. Good men. He got away again.

She was too late at Vardash III. She watched quietly from her observation deck as Space Marine Cruisers, joined by Tau and Eldar vessels, stood watch as an Inquisitor's ship virus bombed the planet. Just to get him. Xylar had touched many lives now, angered some important people. Untold millions of innocents died because she was too late. The tragedy was, he was almost certainly already off planet. Xylar wasn't easily surprised. She no longer had the luxury of time.

They found the Eldar merchant vessel Star Blossom adrift in the Calaxis sector. They stopped long enough to collect spirit stones (she had friends among the Eldar), and a quick look in the cargo bay. Only a few things were missing. And two crew members. Curious indeed, but signs indicated they were gaining on him.

On Archaos he had stopped to re-supply and hastily done too. It seemed he was headed to a small group of planets just outside the Drusus sub-sector and also outside of Imperial control. She had him rushing. Good. However he got more unpredictable when he was in a panic. He'd also apparently picked up more crew if the rumours were to be believed. Cannon fodder? Or something more sinister?

She couldn't wait to ask him.