Chapter 502 - 502: The Captain, Again

The moment the Planetary Governor heard Kian's request, he agreed.

"Done. It's only one laser weapon production line.

"Here's what we'll do. The Ork crisis is over, and the cargo ships our planet scattered off-world to hide are already on their way back.

"I'll have some of them carry the laser weapon production line straight to Agri-World 496b and install it there.

"To start with, that should give you the capacity to produce at least three million lasrifles a year.

"After that, you can manufacture some of the equipment yourselves and bring in more workers to expand."

Forge World 496a still controlled a handful of merchant ships, a dozen or so.

While the Ork warships had been circling in low orbit, these merchantmen hadn't dared come near and had fled to asteroid belts in deep space.

Now that the greenskin crisis was over, they were flying home.

As soon as they arrived, they could load the equipment and make a run to Agri-World 496b.

Kian then seized the moment to ask the Governor for one more thing: a trade warrant.

It was a single-route warrant, valid only between Forge World 496a and Agri-World 496b.

With it, Kian could trade between the two worlds.

He could ship the Agri-World's crops to the Forge World and the Forge World's manufactured goods to the Agri-World. The two economies complemented each other, so every run would be a hold full of gold!

The Governor immediately took a sheet of parchment, wrote out the trade warrant for Kian, and stamped it with the Planetary Governor's great seal.

With that, Kian had taken the first step of his Rogue Trader career: he now had a legal trade route.

Kian solemnly put the warrant away. This was the kind of thing that could be handed down as a family heirloom.

Speaking of shipping, Kian remembered an old acquaintance.

"By the way, my lord, do you know the captain of the freighter Great Ivan? He and I go back."

The Great Ivan was the freighter that had sat over the Agri-World waiting to collect its agricultural cargo, and because of the rebel uprising on the Agri-World, it had ended up waiting a full twenty years.

It had carried Sergeant Nor'n back to the Forge World. Nor'n had arrived, but there had been no sign of the Captain himself.

The Governor said:

"The freighter Great Ivan, yes, I remember.

"That ship risked dropping an Astartes onto the planet's surface and then ran for it, hiding in a nearby asteroid belt so it wouldn't be sunk by the xenos warships.

"Now that the xenos have been dealt with, he should have gotten word and be on his way back. He'll be here within a few days.

"If you and the captain are friends, my lord, I'll contact you once the freighter returns."

A few days later, aboard Inquisitor Trasolh's flagship, Kian was working out in his Sanctum when he received the Governor's reply.

It said the Great Ivan had returned and was anchored in low orbit. If Kian wanted to see his old friend, he could go now.

Kian was curious. It had been a long time. How was the Captain doing?

So he boarded a shuttle and flew to the Great Ivan.

The Great Ivan was 500 metres long, 120 metres wide, and 100 metres high. It had no Warp drive, no shields, and only a little defensive armament. It was a small void freighter.

For nearly twenty years it had been anchored over the Agri-World waiting for its agricultural cargo.

When it finally filled its holds with canned guana-beast meat and set off for home, Ork warships were holding high orbit around its home world, so it could only hide in a deep-space asteroid belt to escape pursuit.

Now at last the ship was anchored in low orbit over its home world. Shuttles from the surface were coming and going, carrying the canned guana meat down to the planet for the nobility and decorated soldiers.

Kian's shuttle docked with the Great Ivan without trouble, and a crewman led him toward the captain's quarters.

The crewman brought Kian to a closed metal hatch and said:

"My lord, this is our captain's cabin."

He pounded on the metal door.

"Captain, the Count is here!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The crewman kept knocking, but the door didn't open. Who knew what the Captain was doing in there?

Despite all the pounding, there wasn't a sound from inside. Kian sensed something was wrong. Had something happened?

He pushed the crewman aside, stepped up to the door, jammed his fingers into the seam, and began forcing the metal door apart!

The doors on a civilian freighter weren't as thick as on military ships. It was basically sheet metal.

In his power armour, Kian pried the door open easily, revealing what was inside.

There was the Captain, the old friend Kian hadn't seen in nearly two years, with his neck in a noose, swinging.

His body dangled in the air, eyes bulging and rolled back, legs kicking erratically, tongue hanging out.

The crewman nearly collapsed at the sight. He stood there frozen, with no idea what to do, until Kian barked at him.

"Can't you see your captain's run out of steam in his tug-of-war with the ceiling? Go get him a stool so he can take a breather!"

"Huh? Oh, right!"

The crewman scrambled to drag over a chair, and together they got the exhausted tug-of-war contestant out of the noose.

The Captain sat on the chair for a good while before he got his breath back. He rubbed his neck, tears in his old eyes.

"Why? Why did you take me down? Why won't you let me die?!"

Kian crossed his arms.

"Because swinging indoors isn't allowed.

"Okay, cut the crap. We finally have peace. Why are you cosplaying a teru teru bozu?"

The Captain sighed and slowly explained his troubles.

It turned out that under his home world's rules, no matter the circumstances, he had delayed a shipment by twenty years, and he was bound to be punished for it!

Even if they didn't execute him, he'd probably be paraded through the streets in a dunce cap shaped like a giant Bugles chip, with an ID Badge Pro Max hung around his neck, until he'd logged ten thousand steps on his step counter.

Better to just die than go through that!

So once the Captain had anchored the Great Ivan in low orbit, he'd decided to quit breathing.

Kian clapped him on the shoulder.

"Okay, okay, no need for all that. I pulled off a big job on your planet, and your Planetary Governor owes me. He won't touch you.

"And if you really can't stay here anymore, come with me. As it happens, I might be getting a warship soon, and I'll need a captain. You can come pilot it for me."

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