Chapter 252: The Poor Agents Who Just Want To Do Their Job
(Unova Syndicate- Planet Xerciam Prime)
(Rexanera Sea)
"Agent 48 we need you to monitor the left side of the deck!"
"Roger that captain!"
"Agent 25 and 37 go down to the lower decks and search for any survivors."
"Yes sir!"
Two hulking brutes with tall muscular bodies and wearing dark uniforms stomped towards the staircase at the back of the upper deck.
They were members of the Kir'rea race whose reputation for being fearsome warriors was well deserved.
Captain Ahab glanced at the many corpses laying face down on the upper deck and could not help but feel a massive headache coming on.
What a fucking mess.
The Libera financial group had funded numerous vessels to travel the Rexanera Sea and this particular ship was the most expensive one of the fleet.
Nothing should have gone wrong unless someone on the inside had betrayed them. Well, that would just have to be investigated later.
It had taken two hours to reach the ship's location once the distress signal had been sent out and by then the invaders had appeared to have made a clean escape.
No traces of life could be seen on the upper deck.
Only cold bodies that had been savagely torn apart by some kind of animal or beast.
Captain Ahab could not hide the sorrow hidden deep within his eyes as he stared at the horrific loss of life.
This job rarely had easy days but perhaps this was the darkest.
Captain Ahab hide the feelings in his heart and barked out another set of orders,
"Secure the perimeter and begin searching for the ship's black box or surveillance tapes. The most important objective is to find the bastards who did this."
"And someone clear up the deck so we can search the crime scene for any clues."
There wasn't much hope in finding untampered security footage as the invaders would have most likely brought an E.M.P device or a hacker to infiltrate the ship's monitoring AI.
Agent 25 and 37 should have already reached the lower decks and hopefully some passengers had survived otherwise the consequences could be quite serious for the Libera group.
The most important aspect when running an intergalactic business was not money nor assets but rather it was reputation.
Money could always be earned, but reputation was something that could only be gradually built up over decades and could be lost in a matter of hours.
Captain Ahab shuddered to think of what the reaction of the settlers on the planet would be if it were to leak out that all passengers on a Libera owned transport ship were killed.
The competition between the various financial groups on the island was already starting to heat up and their rivals would seize upon this weakness at the first opportunity.
Well, that was a problem for the higher ups to deal with.
Captain Ahab's main job was to secure the perimeter around the ship and launch an initial investigation.
Several minutes passed by uneventfully but there was no communication from the two men sent down to search the lower decks for survivors.
Captain Ahab felt a sinking feeling in his chest and quickly activated his communicator device to send a message out.
"Agent 25 what's the status of the passengers onboard the ship?"
"Agent 37 can you hear me?"
"Please respond immediately!"
There was no response.
(Lower Deck- Fifth floor)
"Aren't you some delicious snacks...." a sultry voice whispered from somewhere in the darkness.
The sounds of metal grating on metal could be heard is someone or rather something was crawling on the ceiling.
A sickening laughter of glee echoed through the empty corridor and made goosebumps appear on the arms of the agents.
There was an obvious atmosphere of bloodlust so heavy that it was impossible to breathe.
Agents 25 and 37 were battle hardened warriors but even they could not stop their legs from shaking.
It was like the grim reaper had placed his scythe against their necks.
One wrong move and death would come.
Agent 37 stepped forward cautiously and shouted out a greeting,
"We are with the Libera financial group in charge of investigating what happened on this ship a few hours ago."
"There are no orders to engage aggressively with the survivors so if you are a passenger then we mean you no harm."
Hidden behind a chandelier and hanging from the ceiling was Sophie who peered at the two agents with a conflicted look on her face.
Her expression was constantly shifting from a bloodthirsty grin to a calmer and more composed look.
Sophie's crimson eyes were now flickering between a scarlet hue and the normal golden glow.
The voice in her head was only getting louder and louder.
Hunt them...
Hunt them....
HUNT THEM....
Sophie gripped her head in pain as she struggled to regain some semblance of sanity as these new aliens were clearly from a different group.
That didn't mean that they were not enemies, but Sophie needed to maintain a clear head when dealing with them.
Agent 25 quietly whispered to his companion as there was no reply after several seconds had passed,
"The scanner shows that there are two life signals on this floor. One of them is probably a cultivator or a species with a strong life force."
"Look..."
Agent 37 took a quick glance and suddenly found himself at a complete loss for words. The scanner could detect life signals based on the vital energy in the surrounding area.
Above them was a mass of vital energy that more resembled a burning sun than a person.
Whoever was hiding in this corridor was stronger than every single member of the rescue squad.
But this was only more proof that it was most likely a passenger because who would be able to send a high-level combatants to deal with a mere transport ship.
Facing such a strong individual still caused the agents to put themselves on guard and the tension only continued to rise as Sophie did not respond.
She was still gripped in an intense battle over the control of her mind.
This uneasy situation was finally broken by a soft whimper coming from one of the rooms.
"Big sister... where are you?"