War-Dancer (Tales of the Commonwealth Book 4) by Tom Noel-Morgan Read Free Book Online Page A

bioroids, those of Libertatian breed were twice as resilient and nimble as any man.
     
    Libertatia has always been ruled by no one and by many at the same time. Under the brotherhood of pirate lords, democracy acted alongside totalitarianism to promote survival, in an anarchy where achievement has always ruled over valour. The pirate lords were the first to reward triumph over honour, and under their yolk, Libertatia became the fruit of piracy, smuggling and slave trade, which they visited – and still do – upon the Commonwealth of Planets, so to serve their nefarious purposes.
     
    To the Libertatians, the Sedition Wars have never ended, and for centuries has irreducible Libertatia stood strong as the last bastion of the free Bioroid Nation. In the relative protection of its unassailable cosmic borders, the power of Man is diminished and the pirate lords can evade their just punishment. From thither, the pitiless buccaneers launch their raids into the Commonwealth, where they harvest the means to replenish their bleak artificial realm and to make the rich even richer.
     
    In Harbour Town – Libertatia’s capital, if ever there could be one – those Commonwealth citizens who are brought as captives by the pirate fleets are sold to capricious tyrants as slaves. By local custom, slaves are perpetually free to walk the streets, but they fear to do so, for they have no rights and their lives are cheap. Those that dare wander find that, in the freedom proposed by the narrow streets of Harbour Town, terrors far greater than the torments of servitude skulk in the gloom, to prey on the lowly and the weak. In an anarchy rooted in brutality, bloodthirsty warlords are the only protection serfs and slaves can ever enjoy.
     
    Then there are those unfortunate slaves that fall under the yolk of the cabal of the Blood Bond, for they are made to fight in the great stadium, for the pleasure of pirate lords and free Libertatians. Ever drenched in coagulated blood, the horrid arena of Harbour Town is a place haunted by the screams of those ill-fated enough to ever set foot in it. Under the auspices of the cabal of the Blood Bond, degraded bioroid pirates and human slaves are pitched against one another in matches both cruel and brutal.
     
    Betting at the deadly fights is Libertatia’s most popular diversion, and the blood-sport itself is a lucrative business for the Blood Bond, making it one of the richest and most powerful of the pirate brotherhoods of Libertatia.
     
    Under the Blood Bond’s promise that one day they’ll be freed if they perform well in the arena, human slaves often escape their masters and volunteer for the games. They subject themselves to extensive surgical procedures, excruciatingly painful nano-implants and retroviral treatments that strengthen their bones, modify their muscles at a molecular level and ultimately change them into what some call ‘ transhumans ’ and others call ‘ aberrations ’. By this token, transhuman slaves sacrifice their humanity to offer better entertainment for their unkind captors, and to have a chance at regaining their freedom.
     
    Those that survive the procedure are made to serve the Blood Bond in the arena for a certain term, and then they graduate into the pirate fleets, or so would tradition have them believe. In truth, they most often perish providing amusement in the stadium, and only a precious few champions are ever released from abject captivity. Pampered and spoiled in the corrupting ways of their captors, such rare champions are prompted to become as ruthless as their masters, and some grow in renown and in ambition.
     
    Once they graduate into the pirate fleets, they often serve pirate captains as pricey bodyguards and expert warriors. Their loyalty to their new employers is more often than not ensured by expensive addictions, which only the richest of pirate captains can afford. Truly, their elevation to the fleets is just another form of slavery.
     
    Yet,