Nova Hunter

History

The Nova Hunter was a Fortress-class DropShip that was hijacked under dubious circumstances into the "pirate belt" region of space at some point prior to 3044, apparently while it was carrying considerable treasure.

It is generally held that Silas Bell threw himself in front of the captain during the hijacking, saving the man's life but suffering a mortal wound in return. What is not generally known is that Silas Bell was in fact one of two people trying to hijack the ship independently from each other. The other man was Fortran Merrick, who had hired a crew to commandeer the ship but was caught in the process of sabotaging it by Bell. Merrick shot Bell, but his hired crew then took the Nova Hunter and left Merrick behind.

Silas Bell survived, unlike the rest of the Nova Hunter's crew, and went on to become a space pirate operating a Fortress-class DropShip until he killed himself years later, crazed and in everlasting pain from the head wound he'd received. Merrick wrongly assumed Bell's DropShip was the lost Nova Hunter and later (unsuccessfully) tried to steal it from Bell's wife and daughter, the latter using the ship for smuggling.

If Silas Bell had actually known the location of the Nova Hunter then he took the secret with him to the grave. Its fate remains unknown.

Bibliography

• Old Legends Never Die