The Escapist craft did not approach the Vengeful Spirit.
The pilot sat in the cockpit, listening to the "beep, beep, beep" that sounded every two seconds, staring fearfully at the Vengeful Spirit.
He was a Psyker.
The back of his skull had been removed. A bright silver box-like structure connected his brain to the cockpit seat, with countless unknown-material needles as fine as nanometers inserted into his cerebral structure.
Only Psykers could operate this craft from twenty thousand years ago, and only Psykers fused with their seats from the age of six could become pilots.
When Lu Jin flew toward the Escapist through the glittering web woven by Macro Cannon fire and lance beams, the pilot could see an utterly warped and horrifying presence behind him. Its shape defied description, like some dreadful thing between the stars imagined only by the most gifted master of horror.
And that was the Vengeful Spirit.
His instincts, experience, psychic senses, and even the ancient Escapist itself, which possessed a will of its own, were all warning the pilot: do not approach.
Fortunately, the notoriously terrifying and brutal Lord of Valor was not so cruel to insignificant people.
Lu Jin flew near the Escapist and slipped inside once its hatch opened.
"Where are we going, my lord?" the pilot asked.
"To where Abaddon is," Lu Jin said. "But I know how afraid you are, so I won't force you."
It was best to heed the advice of professionals. That was one of Lu Jin's principles.
"I'm sorry, my lord." The pilot guided the craft away from the battle zone. "I know it's only a warship, but I'm afraid of it. We're all afraid of it—I don't know whether you can understand—"
"I understand. You've become one with this ancient craft, and it fears the