Chapter 561: Back at the Crossroads
The two ships sailed through the kaleidoscopic Warp. Kian walked the corridors with a greatsword over his shoulder, patrolling personally and checking for any sign of Warp creatures getting in.
It was his own ship and his own crew, so he patrolled far more carefully than when he'd been working for someone else.
As he patrolled, he thought about what Greyhide had told him.
The Blue Dwarf house. Supposedly a Rogue Trader house with a lineage going back more than ten thousand years.
This Rogue Trader house had a full five warships, and its trade warrant was a sub-sector warrant, valid across an entire sub-sector.
Most impressive of all, this Rogue Trader house actually owned a whole planet: Blue Dwarf!
That's right. A Rogue Trader dynasty with five warships and a planet of its own!
It had Kian practically drooling!!
The Blue Dwarf house was exactly what he most wanted to become: a fleet of his own, a planet of its own, and the right to trade with every world in an entire sector!
Kian was green with envy. How many resources could a whole planet produce? How much profit could five warships make running trade?
When he learned that a Rogue Trader house this powerful had set its sights on his warship, he wasn't nervous at all. If anything, he got even more excited.
Right now he had two warships and trade rights between two planets.
But before long, he'd catch up with the Blue Dwarf house. He'd have more warships, maybe even a planet all his own!
With hopes like that, Kian rode with the two ships through three days of Warp travel. Then they dropped out of the Warp near the Crossroads.
The Crossroads was a huge asteroid with large numbers of shipyards built around it.
Right now, plenty of warships and small and mid-sized craft were coming and going around the Crossroads.
On the Sword-class escort's bridge, the face of one of the Crossroads' ground controllers appeared on the hologram.
"Unknown vessels, halt. Present your ships' legal credentials, or the port will refuse you docking!"
Kian stepped up to the hologram, pulled his replica Inquisitorial Rosette out of his power armour, and dug at his ear with his finger.
"What did you just say? Sorry, my ear's clogged with wax. Mind saying that again?"
When the Crossroads ground controller saw the Rosette, he was first stunned, then all fawning smiles.
"Holy crap, it's the man!
"Please come right in, my lord Inquisitor. We've cleared two empty berths for you. Your ships can dock wherever you like.
"The Governor has a banquet ready, and the welcoming party is coming to meet you now."
The two ships docked, and Kian, attended by a welcoming party, entered the Governor's residence and met the tall fat man from before.
The tall fat man hadn't changed much since Kian last saw him. He was just a little older and a little fatter.
When he saw his old acquaintance, a smile split his face.
"Oh my, it's my lord Inquisitor! Over ten years since we've seen each other, and you're still so young and imposing!!"
Kian completely ignored his warmth and slammed his hand down on the table with a loud bang.
"HOW DARE YOU!! Who do you think you're buddying up with? On the job, you address me by my title!!"
Cold sweat broke out across the fat Governor's many chins. He mopped his forehead with a napkin and nodded like a pecking chicken.
"Yes, yes, yes! My lord Inquisitor, what official business brings you to our world this time?"
Kian grinned.
"Oh, nothing big. Some personal business."
Damn you, didn't you just say to use titles because this is official business? So why the hell are you here on a side job?
The planetary Governor took a few deep breaths, sat down at the dining table, and started eating the food in front of him.
"Tell me what you need, my lord. Whatever I can do, I'll do."
Kian handed him a data-stick.
"This time I'm here to do business with you. Take a look. These are my goods. How many can you take, and what can you pay?"
The fat Governor took the data-stick, plugged it into a data port in his neck, closed his eyes, and carefully browsed the data on it.
Then his eyes snapped open, and he slapped the table.
"Those 5,500 pirates. I'll take every one of them!"
Kian smiled.
"What can you pay?"
The Imperium of Man was far too big to have a common currency for trade. Generally it was barter.
Trading bulky, low-value goods for compact, high-value goods was the logic of commerce in the void.
The fat Governor handed Kian a data-stick in return.
"These are the goods our world has available for trade right now. Have a look, my lord Inquisitor. Whatever catches your eye, we'll trade."
Kian took the data-stick, plugged it into his power armour's data port, and began browsing the goods.
The Crossroads saw a lot of traffic and had a wide range of goods: weapons, armoured vehicles, food, xenos pets, xenos plants. But most of it was overpriced, and most of it was bulky and low-value.
Kian browsed for a while and lost interest. It was like doomscrolling Instagram in the middle of the night, scrolling page after page hoping to find something good, and after a hundred-odd damn pages, you haven't found a single thing worth saving.
He pulled out the data-stick, tossed it aside, and shook his head in disappointment.
"Forget it. There's nothing here I want. Just have your people repair my two ships."
The damage to Kian's two ships from the fight wasn't heavy. The Sword-class escort just had a few dozen big holes punched in it by boarding torpedoes, which could be welded over with alloy steel. About a week's work.
Seeing Kian wasn't interested in his goods, the fat Governor thought for a moment and suddenly said:
"My lord Inquisitor, since these ordinary goods don't interest you, just tell me what you need. Whatever I can do, I'll do!"
Kian immediately stated his intention.
"All right, since you put it that way, I won't beat around the bush!
"I want you to send people to refit that pirate ship for me. Strip out all the useless facilities inside and convert it into a mobile foundry!"
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