The Black File boards the Righteous Abandon — an ancient vessel left to rot in orbit since the Scouring. It's silent. Still. Too still. But it's not empty. The moment Elias steps aboard, the System begins to glitch. The flame dims. The halls don't match the map. And something is still moving below the crew decks.
The ship may be dead, but it remembers.
And it remembers Elias.
----
The boarding clamps clicked into place with an almost reverent hiss.
No resistance.
No mechanical failure.
The Righteous Abandon was waiting.
Elias stood second in line behind Volst, journal tight in one hand, the other resting lightly on his side — not near a weapon, but where the flame burned just beneath skin and scar.
The shuttle door hissed open.
The interior of the derelict was dark.
Not black — not lifeless.
The kind of darkness you only found in old churches. The kind that felt like it used to be light, a long time ago.
The air smelled like scorched copper and ancient oils.
Everything was still.
Not dead.
Stilled.
Volst stepped in first, torch raised.
The beam cut across flaking bulkhead paint and rusted purity seals, now yellowed like rotted teeth.
Lirae followed next, her mechanical eye casting its own red glow, flicking from heat signature to EM ghost scan.
Then Bit.
Then Malk, muttering prayers under his breath, grip tight on his rifle.
Then Elias.
The instant his boot touched the floor—
The System flinched.
> Internal Mapping: SCRAMBLED
> Chakra Flow: DISTORTED
> Anomalous Interference: UNKNOWN
> User Signature: Echoed (x2)
He stopped moving.
The others kept walking ahead, scanning for movement.
Elias stared at the interior of the Righteous Abandon and felt…
Known.
Like the ship was remembering him, not the other way around.
Bit paused near a collapsed bulkhead, tracing the flaked lettering above it with a gloved finger.
He read softly:
"REDEMPTION THROUGH REPEATED NARRATIVE."
Then looked back at Elias.
"You ever been here before?" he asked quietly.
Elias shook his head.
Bit tilted his head.
"Funny. The walls seem to think otherwise."
They reached the main corridor, splitting into a cross-formation.
Lirae checked her slate. "These schematics are… corrupted," she said, voice flat. "The layout has shifted 12% since last Imperial map. There are sealed doors where airlocks should be. Missing passageways where stairwells were. This is not a ship. It is a reflection of one."
Volst glanced at Elias.
He didn't speak.
The deeper they walked, the more wrong it felt.
Lights flickered where there were no power sources.
Hallways turned without physical curvature.
Twice, Elias passed the same bolter scorch mark on a wall — even though they hadn't looped back.
Then came the sound.
Faint.
Metallic.
Not mechanical.
Not footsteps.
Breathing.
They froze in the auxiliary medicae wing — a narrow corridor with only one door at the far end.
Sealed. Rusted shut.
Elias stared at it.
The flame in his chest gave a weak throb. Flickered.
His journal felt heavier.
Then—
A voice.
From behind the sealed hatch.
Not muffled.
Not electronic.
His voice.
"Bit. Come here. I need you to see this."
Bit spun.
Stared at the door.
Looked back at Elias standing beside him.
Back at the door.
"You heard that?"
Volst raised her rifle.
"I did."
Malk had already flicked off the safety.
Elias didn't move.
The System pulsed in warning.
> Echo Signature Detected: [E.M.]
> Origin: INDETERMINATE
> Communication Channel: Direct Vocal
> Chakra Source: NULL
Elias stepped forward, slowly.
Bit caught his arm.
"Don't," he whispered.
Elias looked him in the eye.
"You trust me?"
Bit didn't blink.
"..... But I don't trust him."
The sealed hatch thudded once.
Then went silent.
They left it unopened.
But as they walked away, Elias kept glancing over his shoulder.
Not at the door.
At the faint smear of condensation on the rusted glass porthole.
It was shaped like a handprint.
The System didn't say anything else.
But his journal did.
When he opened it later, the last page had a new entry:
"You're close now.
One floor deeper.
Bring the light.
I've already made room for you."
[END OF PART 2: Boarding the Dead Cruiser]