No matter what era, interstellar travel is always long and torturous. Technology is always advancing, but they have not kept pace with the times and been used on the poor.
Easter fushs wholeheartedly agreed with her sister Loren fushs, but other than that their views had nothing in common.
"King wants you to help him repair the microwave oven 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?" Easter struggled to poke his head out of the narrow berth in the cabin: "Why didn't I find out when I got on the ship that he was a stingy man with an underdeveloped cerebellum?"
"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 still very vindictive." Ister said this, but he quickly put on his work clothes and went down the safety ladder to the lower cabin. He moved forward by the flickering lights, and at the same time, he had to be careful.
Various cargoes stacked in the hold.
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-Khal all year round. This is the busiest route in the empire, with
Tens of thousands of ships of different types rise and fall, traveling thousands of miles.
The original route included a large-scale passenger fleet operated by the Angel family, which specialized in transporting immigrants at low-profit prices. What was terrible was that Ister just missed the last train, and the next one would have to wait half a month.
This means that he is likely to miss the start of school.
As a last resort, Easter had 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 has been in repair for another three years, is much older than Easter. Three-quarters of the interior of the ship is 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 Easter.
Captain Jin is a typical interstellar trader. He doesn't want to waste the available space in the spacecraft at all, so 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 routes were 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 is a space ship and does not have to land on a planet. Otherwise, Easter really doubts that it will fall with a squeak as soon as it enters the gravity field because it is 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 to and from various worlds to make money. In order to make more money from a round trip, the merchants will try their best to recruit other people.
jobs, such as giving rides to random passengers.
On the Bedford, the place where Easter Force usually sleeps and rests is located near the engine of the spacecraft. It is full of dense cables, pipes and instruments. These old antiques are like the Bedford
It is also difficult to maintain. Many parts are no longer produced and can only be found in garbage recycling stations.
Bedford's air circulation system is still a product of the last century, and the function it can still play can only be said to be better than nothing. The shell of this spaceship actually ruptured, resulting in an imbalance of air pressure inside the spacecraft, and the ship was almost destroyed.
.
And just for this old ship, Ister 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 build a farm with a harvester.
In the past, Ister would never have been able 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 forests and animal resources. Although Vanas is not under the protection of the Terran Empire fleet, some people will inevitably 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 contained the local accents of the four colonial worlds.
"Watch it, you frizzy bad boy." someone shouted.
There are also many people sleeping between the ribs of the inner hull structure and the pipes covered with insulation materials. There are all kinds of people, including small businessmen and vendors, from all walks of life. Although it is not very comfortable here, as long as the temperature is kept constant
, it’s fair to say.
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 federal era. He formulated laws that promoted human rights and morality, reduced taxes, and allowed the people to recuperate and recuperate. He ordered powerful
The Imperial fleet cleared out the rebels, reopened shipping to allow hundreds of worlds to exchange supplies, and formulated trade policies to protect the fragile industrial structures of weaker worlds.
The most obvious change is that agricultural planets like Halsain have quickly regained their vitality, and the original Antiga planet with barren soil has become the most important industrial hub planet of the Tyranids. The economic recovery has made the colonies
People have more communication opportunities, and many people have seized the opportunities.
Ister ignored those 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 not bigger than other cabins, Jin deserves praise.
The thing is that he is as stingy towards others as he is towards 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 changing day by day. They would rather be gangsters than register with federal customs in order to evade the various tax items in various federal colonies. The Bedford used to be such a ship.
When the shrewd merchants discovered that the trade policy promoted by the empire was beneficial to them, their attitudes immediately changed.
The captain's cabin is actually covered with the empire's interstellar trade preferential policies, and there are all kinds of colorful annotations below. You know, Istel has heard about what kind of person Jin was in the past. Apart from the fact that he did not seek wealth,
Killing someone is no different than being an outlaw.
The merchants travel around the world all year round, rarely staying in any one area for too long, and have a very weak concept of the country and the government. In the old federal era, these small merchants never dared to expect the protection of the federal police.
As long as you don't get ripped off a lot of money, then you're really thankful.
Not only that, there is a framed portrait hanging opposite Jin's bed. On it is a man riding a horse. He has gray hair and gray eyes, wearing a black wolf fur coat and a mink hat, carrying a horse in one hand.
Take the Torrent shotgun.
Three years ago, this man was not famous in the entire Tyran Empire world, but now everyone knows him. It is the portrait of the grandfather with the same name as Emperor Augustus, and the portrait on the large-denomination empire 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 the citizens of the Empire in Istres and other remote places, this man was just an ordinary, bad old man. But now, he is a symbol of wealth and power.
For Ister, changes related to the Empire have come so fast. Now, the Helsain people do not call themselves Federation people or Helseans people, they only refer to the Empire as Imperial people, because of the agricultural renaissance of the Empire.
The policy saved the farmers on that planet.
Suddenly, a piece of news attracted Ister: the Tyran Empire's latest Minotaur-class battlecruiser has begun service in the Imperial Navy. Emperor Augustus Mengsk attended the first fleet flagship Bucephalus
The launching ceremony of the Bucephalus at Bennett Shipyard was followed by the testing of the Viking fighter Archangel model.
The Marine Corps also ushered in the update of the CMC400 powered armor, and the new piercing siege tank also appeared in the military parade for the first time. Sooner or later, the new equipment will eliminate the old ones, but federal equipment such as Goliath and Vulture Vehicles
The mechas and tanks of the era are still in service in the empire's huge armed forces.
Seeing these new weapons, Ister felt a sense of pride in his heart. Yes, he was also a member of this armed force that looked down upon the Koprulu sector.
The year is 2497, six years have passed since the Zerg invaded Ister's hometown of Helsain. Princess Louise is also one year old, and the day she was born seems like yesterday.
Ister is eighteen years old.
He has grown up and is much taller than his sister. The girls in the village all hope to marry Ister because he is strong and tall and has a pair of beautiful blue eyes.
Not only that, Easter is also a qualified mechanic. He maintains and repairs most of the harvesting robots, irrigation facilities and communication equipment in the village. The captain of the Bedford took a fancy to this.
It took a little while before I was willing to let Easter on the ship. This would be a free maintenance worker and save an employee's money.
Easter knew that his life was not destined to be spent in the golden fields of Helsinn.
After Ister was admitted to the Tyran Empire's Styrling Memorial Officers Academy with excellent results, his life has undergone earth-shaking changes.
Stillling Memorial Military Academy is ranked second only to Augustgrad Royal Naval Academy and Usa Ghost Military Academy among all military academies.
The former trains the best naval commanders for the Tyranid Empire 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.
Nowadays, most parents who send their children to ghost colleges 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. Ister proudly believes that the Imperial Marines are the most powerful army, and 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.
Easter was paying attention to the news while repairing the microwave oven in his hand. He couldn't help but feel angry that the Navy had such a powerful warship. The Navy was already so wealthy, what did the Marine Corps 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. Their ship is very fast and we can't escape. Don't panic. The Camorian pirates only want money, not killing people."
Before Istel 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 Kaimorian pirates come here? This is already an area close to the core world." Ister asked the captain.
"Who knows about this?" Jin's face was ugly, but he was still calm. In these years of dangerous life traveling around the country, he had seen all kinds of pirates, and the Kaimorian pirates were the most difficult 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 Ister.
"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, Easter could feel the Bedford's hull shaking a little. This was a common method used by pirates. They would first use firepower to stop the merchant ship and then use mechanical hooks to fix it to the pirate ship.
Then, the pirates would use powerful laser cutters to cut open the hatch and swarm in.
The Kaimorian pirate family can be said to be the most appalling and notorious pirates in this galaxy, with cruel methods. If a hijacked ship resists fiercely, they will either massacre everyone after taking the ship, or blow up the ship directly.
.
"What about your goods?" Easter dropped the wrench and screwdriver in his hand.