No matter what era, interstellar travel is always long and torturous. Technology is always advancing, but they are not being used to benefit the poor with the times.
Easter Fushs (Easter Fushs) wholeheartedly agreed with her sister Loren Fushs (Loren Fushs), but other than that, their views had nothing in common.
"King wants you to help him repair the microwave in the captain's cabin. Boy, don't blame me for not reminding you. If anything is lost, he will hand you over to the Imperial Sheriff at the next stop."
"You even need me to hold the pee for him?" Yinster poked his head out of the narrow berth in the cabin with difficulty: "Why didn't I find that he was a stingy man with an underdeveloped cerebellum when I got on the ship?"
"The whole ship knows about this, but don't say that in front of him." The crew member on the opposite side waved his hand and walked to the next equally crowded cabin holding on to the aluminum handrail.
"Yes, he is very vindictive." Yinster said this, but he quickly put on his work clothes and went down the safety ladder to the lower cabin. He moved forward with the flickering lights, and at the same time, he had to be careful. Various goods stacked in the cabin.
The Bedford is a 374-foot-long (approximately 114 meters) cargo ship. It was originally a scrapped ship of the Angel family, and was later purchased by the current captain King at a very low price.
The refitted Bedford is now a ship that travels between Antiga-Helsain-Tarsonis-Velidia-Khar all year round. This is the busiest shipping lane in the Empire's territory, with tens of thousands of ships of various types rising and falling.
Originally, there was a large passenger fleet operated by the Angel family on the route, which specialized in transporting immigrants at low-profit prices. The terrible thing is that Yinster just missed the last bus, and the next one will have to wait half a month, which means that he will probably miss the start of school.
As a last resort, Inster had no choice but to choose the Bedford.
Whether it is the old Federation era or the current Empire era, the interstellar passenger transportation industry is usually an accessory to bulk freight. If one does not possess considerable assets, it is not easy for individuals to travel among the stars by ship.
The Bedford, which had been repaired for another three years, was much older than Inster. Three-quarters of the interior of the ship was occupied by engines, life support systems, pressurized hangars, and cargo holds. There wasn't enough room for the crew, let alone a good spot for hitchhikers like Inster.
Captain Jin is a typical interstellar trader. He doesn’t want to waste the available space in the spacecraft at all. Therefore, even the crew cabin and aisles are filled with bundles of Halsain linen, tea and olive oil. The main control deck The bottom is stuffed with high-quality wool.
After the route was re-opened, the sales and prices of agricultural products from the edge world in the core world have been rising, so the Bedford's cold storage still stores a lot of Antiga yellow potatoes and turtle meat. Fortunately, the Bedford was a space ship and did not have to land on the planet. Otherwise, Yinster really suspected that it would fall with a squeak as soon as it entered the gravity field because it was too heavy.
By carrying raw materials from the edge world to the core world in exchange for industrial products and shipping them back, these interstellar merchants travel between worlds to make money. In order to make more money from a round trip, businessmen will try their best to do other jobs, such as picking up passengers.
On the Bedford, the place where Instel Vos usually sleeps and rests is located close to the spacecraft engine. There are dense cables, pipes and instruments everywhere. These old antiques are as difficult to maintain as Bedford itself. Many parts are no longer produced and can only be found in garbage recycling stations.
Ranwen
Bedford's air circulation system is still a product of the last century, and the role it can still play can only be described as better than nothing. The shell of this spaceship actually ruptured, causing an imbalance in the air pressure inside the spacecraft, and almost destroyed the ship and killed everyone.
And just for this old ship, Yinster had to pay 930 Empire Credit Coins. This price could buy a brand new KMC multi-functional combine harvester in the edge world.
In the nascent agricultural world, a multifunctional combine harvester was capable of clearing land, gravel, land preparation, sowing and other tasks. A hard-working family could establish a farm with a harvester.
In the past, Yinster would have been unable to get this money.
"Hey, boy from Heilsain, be careful not to step on my furs." A fur trader from Vanass shouted:
"Don't be evil!"
Vanas is a long-abandoned Protoss Empire colony with extremely rich forest and animal resources. Although Vanas is not under the protection of the Terran Empire fleet, there are always people who will take risks for the resources above.
"Your foot stepped on my foot." The other person didn't know what was going on, but his sentence actually had the local accent of the four colonial worlds.
"Watch it, you frizzy bad boy." someone shouted.
There were also many people sleeping between the ribs of the inner hull structure and the pipes covered with insulation materials. There were all kinds of people, including small traders and hawkers, from all walks of life. Although it's not very comfortable here, as long as the temperature is kept constant, it's okay.
This is the third year since the establishment of the Tyran Empire. The founding emperor, Emperor Augustus I, worked hard to eliminate the shortcomings of the old federation. He formulated laws that promoted human rights and morality, reduced taxes, and allowed the people to recuperate. He ordered the powerful Imperial fleet to clear out the rebels, reopened shipping to allow hundreds of worlds to exchange goods and supplies, and formulated trade policies to protect the fragile industrial structures of weaker worlds.
The most obvious change is that agricultural planets like Halsain quickly regained their vitality, and Antiga Prime, which originally had barren soil, became the most important industrial hub planet of the Tyranids. The recovery of the economy gave people in various colonies more opportunities to communicate, and many people seized the opportunity.
Yinster ignored the shouting voices, climbed in the long and narrow cabin, and squeezed into the captain's cabin after more than ten minutes. The so-called captain's cabin is no larger than the other cabins. What is commendable about Jin is that he is as stingy to others as he is to himself.
He saw the smoking microwave oven at a glance, and he didn't know which garbage dump Jin picked it from. There was an old-fashioned holographic projection device next to it, and what was playing on it was the election of members of the Imperial Senate and the Imperial Parliament. .
Few interstellar merchants care about politics, and the policies of the old federation are constantly changing. They would rather work as gangsters than register with federal customs in order to evade the various tax items in various federal colonies. The Bedford was such a ship in the past. When the shrewd merchants discovered that the trade policy promoted by the empire was beneficial to them, their attitude immediately changed.
The captain's cabin is actually covered with the empire's interstellar trade preferential policies, and there are all kinds of colorful notes below. You know, Yinster has heard about what kind of person Jin was in the past. Apart from not seeking wealth or killing, he is no different from an outlaw.
Rong merchants travel between worlds all year round, rarely staying in any one area for too long, and have a very weak concept of country and government. In the old federal era, these small businessmen never dared to hope for the protection of the federal police. As long as they were not extorted greatly, they would be really thankful.
Not only that, there is a portrait of Biao Qi hanging opposite Jin's bed. There was a man riding a horse. He had gray hair and gray eyes. He was wearing a black wolf fur coat and a mink hat. He was carrying a torrent shotgun in one hand.
Three years ago, this man was not famous throughout the Tyran Empire, but now everyone knows him. It was a portrait of the grandfather with the same name as Emperor Augustus, the portrait on the large-denomination imperial credit coins.
Now upon careful consideration, the old Mengsk was indeed a majestic lord of Korhal. He may not have thought that his descendants could directly overthrow the Tyranid Federation and proclaim himself emperor of Korhal.
In the past, to Yinstel and other Imperial citizens in remote areas, he was just an ordinary, bad old man. But now, he is a symbol of wealth and power.
For Yinstel, changes related to the empire came so quickly. Nowadays, the people of Helsain do not call themselves federal people or people of Helsain. They only refer to the Empire as people of the Empire, because the empire's agricultural revitalization policy saved the farmers on that planet.
Suddenly, a piece of news attracted Inster: The Tyranid Empire's latest Minotaur-class battlecruiser has begun service in the Imperial Navy... Emperor Augustus Mengsk attended the First Fleet The launch of the flagship Bucephalus at Bennett Shipyard, followed by the testing of the Viking fighter prototype.
The Marine Corps also ushered in the update of the CMC400 powered armor, and the new penetration siege tank also appeared in the military parade for the first time. Sooner or later, new equipment will make obsolete the old ones, but mechas and tanks from the Federation era such as Goliath and Vulture are still in service in the empire's huge armed forces.
Seeing these new weapons, Yinster felt a sense of pride in his heart. Yes, he is also a member of this armed force that looks down upon the Koprulu sector.
The year is 2497, six years have passed since the zerg invaded Inster's hometown of Helsain. Princess Louise is also one year old and the day she was born seems like just yesterday.
Inster is eighteen years old.
He has grown up and is much taller than his sister. The girls in the village all hope to marry Inster because he is strong and tall and has beautiful blue eyes.
Not only that, Yinster is also a qualified mechanic. He maintains and repairs most of the harvesting robots, irrigation facilities and communication equipment in the village. It was precisely because of this that the captain of the Bedford was willing to let Instell on the ship. This was a free maintenance worker and saved an employee's money.
But Yinstel knew that his life was not destined to be spent in the golden fields of Heilsain.
After Yinstel was admitted to the Tyran Empire's Styrling Memorial Officers Academy (Styrling Memorial Officers Academy) with excellent results, his life has undergone earth-shaking changes.
Stillling Memorial Military Academy ranks second only to Augustgrad Royal Naval Academy and Usa Ghost Military Academy in the ranking of all military schools.
The former trains the best naval commanders for the Tyranid Empire's fleet, while the latter trains the best psykers in the Empire. After graduation, ghost military academy students can choose to become ghost agents to continue their studies, or they can enter the imperial prosecutorial department.
Today, parents who send their children to ghost academies mostly hope that their children will choose the latter, and this trend is increasing day by day.
The Stillling Memorial Officer Academy is a Marine officer academy. Instel proudly believes that the Imperial Marines are the most powerful army. Their duty is to defend the Emperor and the Empire and ensure this new era of justice. The system has, as always, become the benchmark for the entire star region.
Yinstel was paying attention to the news and repairing the microwave oven in his hand. He couldn't help but feel angry that the Navy had such a powerful warship. The Navy is already so wealthy, what does the Marines have?
"Everyone go to the engine room immediately and block the door and weld it shut." At this time, Captain King's voice suddenly came from the Bedford's broadcast:
"It's the Camorian pirates. They are very fast and we can't escape. Don't panic. The Camorian pirates only want money, not killing people."
Before Yinster could react, a tall and strong middle-aged man rushed in. His face was full of flesh, and the back of his head clearly had an ugly scar because of a large piece of skin missing.
"Why did the Camorian pirates come here? This is already an area close to the core world." Yinster asked the captain.
"Who knows about this?" Jin's face looked ugly, but he was still calm. In his dangerous life of traveling across the country over the years, he had seen all kinds of pirates, and the Kaimorian pirates were the most difficult ones to deal with.
However, the Kaimorian pirates are principled pirates, and they generally do not want the lives of traders.
"I have sent a rescue signal to the nearest imperial trade outpost. If there happens to be a patrolling warship nearby, we will be saved." Jin looked at Yinster.
"Boy, don't even think about going against these vicious pirates. Only by following them can you survive." He said.
"We are no match for the Pirates."
At this time, Yinstel could feel the Bedford's hull shaking a little. This is a common method used by pirates. They will first use firepower to stop the merchant ship and then use mechanical hooks to fix it to the pirate ship.
Then, the pirates would cut open the hatch and swarm in.
The pirate family of Camorion can be said to be the most appalling and notorious pirates in this galaxy, and their methods are very cruel. If a hijacked ship resists fiercely, they will either massacre everyone after taking over the ship, or blow up the ship directly.
"What about your goods?" Yinster dropped the wrench and screwdriver in his hand.
"I bought insurance," King said.
