The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Interplanetary Space Station)

(Cargo Bay- Auction Hall 012)

"Two million Enas!"

"Three million Enas!"

"No… stop bidding… fuck…"

"Four million Enas!"

A crowd gathered around a sharply dressed man who confidently puffed out his chest and loudly repeated the bids that were offered.

Behind the man were numerous steel crates stacked so high that they appeared to reach the ceiling of the hall.

Inside each crate was a rare material called Noxien only found on the planet Xercois in the Unovan Syndicate.

Officially smuggling materials across the Federation border was a crime punishable by death for commoners and resulted in a hefty fine for the nobles.

But… there was always a way to get the authorities to 'overlook' such auctions as long as the price was right.

Qiana leaned against a nearby pillar and watched lazily as an alien with pale yellow skin raised up three hands and raised the price to five million Enas.

No one was paying attention to the plain faced girl who wore a simple black dress with a silver bracelet on her arm.

Qiana adjusted her glasses and glanced at the heavily armoured woman standing next to her.

A faint expression of irritation flashed across her face too quickly for the woman to see.

Her uncle's lapdog… a woman by the name of Victoria Hunt.

Moderately intelligent with the cultivation strength to match her position as her uncle's right-hand woman.

She had been sent to protect Qiana, but it was obvious that her true objective was to monitor and report back to certain members of the family.

Unlike Sophia, Qiana was not the only potential heir to House Abazin and many of her siblings and cousins were waiting for the opportunity to take her place.

Qiana swore that they would never get the chance.

The young girl raised up her hand lazily and bid once the price hit six million Enas. Now the bidding had finally begun to slow down but it was far from over.

"Your budget is ten million Enas young miss… please do not go over that amount," Victoria whispered in a voice that was loud enough for most of the hall to hear.

Quite a few members of the crowd turned around and watched Qiana with knowing smiles on their faces.

Qiana's face was an expressionless mask and she refused to let Victoria's words affect her. Her uncle's spy may think that she just revealed her bottom line but…

She did not become the future heir of House Abazin by not having a back up plan in case things went wrong.

Qiana powered on her wrist communicator and secretly checked the funds in her personal accounts.

After spending most of her first-year bounty hunting, there was a sizable number of credits in her accounts.

Capturing or killing some of the most dangerous criminals in the Hydra Star System was quite the lucrative job.

It was just a shame that she would be forced to dip into her personal savings but securing these materials for the family was just too important.

"Seven million Enas!"

"Eight million Enas!"

"Twenty million Enas!" an arrogant voice interrupted the bidding process and drew the attention of everyone in the hall.

Qiana glanced in the direction of the voice and saw a young man in his early twenties surrounded by five heavily armed bodyguards.

Each bodyguard had the crest with the image of a snake-like beast on the center of their uniforms.

Qiana narrowed her eyes since she recognised the family crest. House Itlon… a declining noble family with more pride than sense.

The young man moved confidently through the crowd until he stood right in front of the man auctioning off the rare goods.

"Alright you peasants… my name is Felix Itlon and these Noxien crystals are now the property of House Itlon," the man lazily spoke.

"So… just don't bother to bid any higher and we won't have any problems…"

The young man waved at his bodyguards who walked over with their plasma rifles held firmly in their hands.

Oh… this should be interesting…

Qiana smirked slightly as she glanced at her uncle's spy and then activated her special family technique.

Dark tattoos began to cover her body until her pale skin became completely black. The shadows beneath her feet twisted and writhed as if they were alive.

Qiana melted away into the shadows and her body disappeared from the room as if she had never been there.

"Young miss? Where did you go?" Victoria asked in a confused tone. The heavily armoured woman looked around for Qiana, but she was nowhere to be seen.

How was that possible?

Victoria extended her senses and tried to capture a trace of Qiana's movements but could find nothing.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" an angry voice distracted Victoria from her search.

An elderly man dressed in an expensive white shirt angrily pointed at Felix.

"Do you think that you can just take over and get those goods? Boy… this is the black market… your fancy noble titles are no good here…"

"Do you wish to make an enemy of House Itlon?" Felix lowered his voice to an almost hushed whisper as he walked towards the old man.

"Boy… greater houses than yours have tried to destroy us… you won't be the first and you most certainly will not be the last."

The old man raised up one finger in the air and suddenly several mechanical soldiers rose up from holes that suddenly appeared in the ground.

They outnumbered the bodyguards brought by House Itlon five to one. Felix stood still but there was not a trace of fear or panic on his face.

That was the part that confused Qiana as she observed the scene from the relative safety inside the shadow of the old man.

What would possess the heir of a declining noble family to pick a fight with a black-market organisation?

Unless…

BOOM!

A loud explosion rocked the entire hall and a fiery ball of flames burst out from the northern corner of the room.

Several people were burnt alive in the explosion and debris and rubble began to fall down from the ceiling.

The old man looked around in confusion as if he could not believe that his space station had just been attacked.

Several figures dressed in dark clothes rushed out of the enormous hole in the hall and began to shoot at everyone in sight.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A hail of plasma fire tore through the hall and dozens of people were killed in the first wave of attacks.

Felix laughed madly with an insane glint in his eyes. He was still laughing when he looked down and saw an enormous hole in his chest.

"Why… why…" the arrogant young noble stuttered as he collapsed on the ground.

His so-called allies did not bother to protect him from the mechanical soldiers who returned fire.

Qiana shifted from shadow to shadow in the room as she took out a plain knife from her storage space.

This was the perfect opportunity.

She shifted behind Victoria who was currently fighting for her life against two of the black cloaked figures.

Qiana emerged from the shadows beneath her feet and the armoured guard did not notice until it was far too late.

Her blade sliced across Victoria's throat in one smooth movement. The plain unremarkable knife in her hand tore through the armour as if it were made out of paper.

Qiana's time spend training as an assassin had paid off. Her weapon was coated with a thin layer of darkish grey qi that bubbled slightly.

She may not be the strongest fighter but when it came to killing… Qiana had no equal among the first years.

Except for her friend Sophie.

Victoria clutched her throat in shock and managed to gargle out some incoherent words before a plasma round to her chest ended her life.

Qiana melted back into the shadows just as the two black cloaked figures aggressively rushed towards her position.