The captain of the interstellar merchant ship Flywheel has long served the Qubo Trade Alliance, the second largest commercial alliance in the Storm Sector, which has brought him power, prestige and a lot of wealth. ,
But personally, it just gave him a name.
Felice 'The Narwhal' Monk.
He used to be an officer in the Astra Militarum. After many brutal battles, he retired and became the captain of a merchant ship with the help of a certain hive house.
Even now, twenty years later, he still preferred not to remember how he got the name - he had thought that the sentimentality attached to family ties would disappear under the system to which he had devoted his life - but he still Forever grateful for my name.
Even within the aristocracy of the hive, only those who are considered valuable will be named: the vast majority of people are almost nameless from birth to entering the workforce, with only code names.
"Owner?"
The narrow space of the command module was crowded with rows of crowded bird monitors and communication operators. Except for the void monitoring personnel, they were all staring at their screens seriously.
Felice Monk had a bitter look on his face. Bird servant reports were always the worst on this route.
But this is also the fastest route to the Naisen Galaxy.
There are many types of merchant ships in the empire. Large merchant ships can often carry out inter-satellite trade, and they also carry the Geller force field to conduct subspace navigation. However, trade between and within galaxies often uses small and medium-sized merchant ships. This kind of merchant ship has no Geller force field or subspace engine, and can only "slowly" trek in the void.
In this process, apart from pirates, the greatest threat is various cosmic phenomena.
"What's the matter?"
"We are getting closer to the asteroid belt, my master."
"Visibility?"
"Scanning devices are impenetrable, my master."
Captain Felice Monk sighed sadly. Although the route is basically fixed, the route is not necessarily fixed. Sometimes it is to avoid pirates, and sometimes it is to avoid certain possible "comparters" - merchant ships. The relationship frequently switches between predators and prey, and they rarely reuse a route.
This voyage is newly developed and can reach the Nessen system faster. The disadvantage is that it must pass through an asteroid belt.
From Felice Monk's experience, he knew that accidents would always happen when merchant ships passed through the complex asteroid belt: huge debris could cause irreparable damage to the hull, not to mention the malfunctioning machinery, and There is a high probability that these will appear on his desk in the future.
But there is no way. The market in the Nessen galaxy is very good now. A mysterious buyer ordered a large amount of supplies from the Trade Alliance, and the price is very cost-effective. His profit from this trip may be enough to buy a bigger ship.
Provided he can get there before everyone else.
"Activate low-visibility protocols."
The captain gave the order.
"I'll go to the observation window and take a look."
The operator of the servitor system put the command down the communication line - he could already hear the sound being dispersed and hissing due to the suppression of radiation.
Felice Monk opened the door and stepped into the cabin with the viewing window, his goggles flashing and then dimming, cutting off the initial light.
The captain scanned slowly and stopped as he turned to the right.
There, the void is filled with various fragments, forming an invisible, moving whole. This kind of occasion is the favorite of pirates.
He sighed, snapped his fingers, and a wandering lieutenant stepped forward, elbowing the others away.
"Captain, your orders?"
"Tell all the guards to go on alert and make sure they are ready to deal with emergencies."
"OK."
The adjutant turned around and hurried toward the gate.
Felice Monk turned around again and looked at the approaching asteroid belt. He had seen battles on twenty worlds and three sectors. He had participated in Operation Space Jump and struggled in the trenches. trek.
However, his least favorite form of warfare was fighting where the enemy could not be seen.
Two hours later, Captain Felice Monk understood that this was the battle he was about to fight.
"Try the communicator again!"
he shouted to a group of communications operators.
"Contact anyone, anyone."
Then he turned to the nervous guard.
"Are you telling me that none of the messengers have returned? Not one?"
"No...Captain, none. Now we have completely lost contact with half of the cabin. It's silent there. Everyone says it's haunted."
"What the hell! Send people, grab weapons, go to the nearest cabin and see what's going on there! Then come here and report! I don't believe that someone can jump to help us silently! This is impossible of!"
The guards walked in pairs toward the cabin doors and disappeared into the darkness.
Turning his head, Captain Felice Monk saw his fortune teller crouched in a corner with his hood draped over his head - this was a madman who had brought him good luck over the years, but Now nothing was done to warn him of what the coming threat was.
He climbed onto the pile of stumps and kicked it.
The pile screeched and shook, and two eyes appeared, blue and shocked.
"You, come out and see what's going on."
"Me? My lord?"
The astrologer shook his head.
"I-I'm not fit to do this kind of thing."
Felice Monk bent towards him.
"You need to make up for your failure, otherwise I guarantee you will never have a chance to know your future."
"Y-yes, my lord."
The astrologer stood up unsteadily and walked towards the door of the cabin, where he stopped suddenly.
Those sky-blue eyes turned to his master.
"Darkness surrounds me, Captain, and fate—"
"Very helpful, get out there and do what I tell you."
The astrologer paled.
"I, I cannot follow fate, my master."
"You do not need."
The astrologer muttered and drooled and walked out of the hatch.
The captain motioned for a squad leader to come over.
"Take five men and follow him. I suspect it's some warp stuff. A psyker would be a good bait. See what he attracts, then kill it."
"Yes sir."
The squad leader gathered his men, grabbed his shotgun, grenades and knives, and was out within a minute.
Since there was no reply on the communication channel, the captain decided to take a look outside the cabin himself. He always liked to observe the battlefield with his own eyes - now he no longer doubted that this was a war.
Just ten minutes ago, contact was lost with the first cabin, and soon after with the second.
But he didn't receive any reports of attacks or intrusions. It was just like the nonsense the crew said - it was haunted.
