“<Ha! Ha! Ha! Is this the planet that’s not under the protection of the Alliance!? It doesn’t even have a proper fleet!>”
“Hey hey hey! What kinda ignorant people are we dealin’ with here!?>”
“<We’re the intimidating Blood Servant! We’re gonna take you to our hideout and have some fun!>”
“<Gyahahahahahaha!!!>”
▽▽▽
“Then I cut down two small ships with magic, and captured a kind of big one with a magic barrier.”
“Hey, looking at this footage, it looks like you can survive in the vacuum of space. Am I just imagining that?”
“You’ve got the right idea, but that’s not right. I can use magic barriers to manage air and temperature, but I’d die in space too without that.”
After having breakfast, we went down to the dock and met up with Van and the others. And he immediately showed us something on his tablet. But I can’t tell where the hideout is from here, so we’ll probably spend a few days looking for it. At least that’s what I’m thinking, until Sumire the mechanical intelligence interjects.
“Judging by information provided by the protective observation station’s sensor and their navigation equipment, they are most likely in the asteroid belt six hundred thousand kilometers away from here.”
She says as she shows us the tablet with a simplified stellar map. If it’s six hundred thousand kilometers away, it should take Tortilla Double four days to get there, if it flies at cruising speed 24/7. I guess we should do a short jump with the hyperdrive.
“We can travel that distance if we decide to go. If there’s nothing else, we’ll go…”
“Hahaha… The future’s awesome…”
Van shakes his head like he’s trying to accept reality.
“Don’t take off just yet. I asked you to destroy the space pirate hideout, but can you secure it instead?”
“Secure it?”
This is exactly what we said would happen back when we received the advance payment in Akul and were getting ready to travel.
▽▽▽
“You want to execute a boarding attack on the space pirate base?”
“Yes~!”
Said Kori all of a sudden. We threw everything in the cargo bay, and were drinking in the living room while having ham slices.
“Another thing out of nowhere. I assume we can earn quite a bit from securing the hideout, but the danger would be increased exponentially.”
“Yeah, and Genma and Suzuri don’t have that kinda training.”
“That’s true. And isn’t a boarding attack pretty rare? Actually, we got hit with it a lot.”
Armors charging at us and sticking to us to punch the armor. But that felt like they were disposable. I really don’t want to do that. Or make others do it.
“First, I want more power armors and battle drones~.”
“We only have Kori’s, right?”
“As for drones… Well, defense is important, and fighting on foot is scary, so I don’t want to do it.”
Suzuri nods. Her main weapon is spreadsheet software after all.
“But just in case~.”
“I guess you have a point. If we aren’t able to leave the dock and people attack us in close quarters combat, we’re gonna have to send the battle drone out there and shoot from behind defensive drones.”
“We’ve already experienced this ‘just in case’…”
“There was that time in Mishun Prime…”
That’s true, we all have personal shields, but not armors for everyone. Fear aside, we need to prepare to overcome it.
“Power armors… How much would that be, roughly speaking?”
“Hnu, there is a lot of two to five meter tall second hand dead stock. A used one would be ten thousand puni, and I would say a new one would be five times that. And…”
Suzuri then peeks at Saratha awkwardly. I guess that long beautiful tail isn’t going to fit in a bipedal power armor.
“Ones for races like mine with big bodies are limited and not widely distributed. And expensive. I checked one out before and gave up when I saw it was a hundred thousand. I didn’t even find any to rent.”
“You could also get an exoskeleton that’s cheaper and easier to put on~.”
Kori shows us what looks like a child’s stick figure drawing. It has equipment on its spine, arms, waist, and legs that lets it lift weights like an olympian. It uses that puny energy thing as its battery. I guess this could be used to use heavy weapons…
“This is interesting, we’ll pass for now. What would an armor for Saratha be like?”
“With this long tail, I’d have to coil it and sit on it. It’d probably be a bit weird…”
She says while slapping her tail. The way she says it makes it sound like a comical chibi spider.
Could we make it cute on purpose? I’d be for it.
She would get on a box with two limbs attached, and move with four legs that support it. It’d be about three to four meters tall, and five meters wide with the legs included. It’d be hard to move in tight spaces.
“Aren’t there any snake shaped ones? Armors are moved by brain waves, so wouldn’t that be tough?”
“It’s too niche. I’m not good at moving legs, but if it’s a spider type, I guess I could move it with brain waves.”
And it’s over a hundred thousand puni. Wouldn’t it be hard to walk at the same pace as us with two arms and four legs? But she’d want to have a shoulder carried grenade launcher, right? Or like a tri-barrel laser cannon.
“Spider shaped… Maybe we would need it if Tortilla Double was attacked.”
“The cargo bay is one thing, but the living quarters are too big for it.”
“We could leave the living room to the lil’ killers.”
Five disk battle drones roll our way, standing up.
“We didn’t call you, just stand-by~.”
They lay horizontally and go back to cleaning.
“Maybe we should get more. A few with thermal power?”
They get up again and come here. Are they welcoming that idea? Against it? Their rainbow lights tell me it’s probably the former…
“A plasma launcher? That’d be hard to clean.”
“It might not be such a bad idea to acquire a big laser cannon and place it in the living room or cockpit.”
“A laser cannon would be a good decoration for the living room~~~!!!”
“We wouldn’t be buyin’ it to decorate it. Actually, decoratin’ the living room might be a fun idea, uh? It’s pretty drab.”
I feel like we’re getting off track, but we decide to get two bipedal armors, and one four legged armor. And battle drones. That should make the hideout a walk in the park.
▽▽▽
“Sorry, but attacking a space pirate hideout on foot wasn’t part of our contract. We’ll bomb it with the ship and destroy it, and if you don’t want that, we’ll just scout it and abandon the destruction quest.”
No, a boarding attack just isn’t going to happen. There are too many uncertain factors, so we should blow it with the big laser cannon and salvage what we want.
“Even something like that… What if the goal was to rescue hostages?”
“I wouldn’t recommend it. If space pirates are holding people long term, it’s probably for breeding. If they have a VIP, hire a specialist team.”
We’re just mercenaries that rely on Tortilla Double’s cannons and torpedoes. Even if taking that hideout was easy, we have no intention of doing it.
“Ahh… No, it’s okay, it’s not like that. I just wanted more loyal workers with knowledge of this space age.”
“I don’t know the level you want, but if you ask, you’ll get a lot of applicants. Ask that mechanical intelligence of yours. Space has too many people.”
“Master is currently deciding his policy, and has no plans.”
I feel like facepalming, but I’m in front of the guy that contracted us, so I won’t.
“Okay, then if you can follow the original quest, do it. It will be reflected in the reward.”
“Understood. If that is all, we’re going.”
“Yes… Hum, the girls aren’t saying anything, and it’s scaring me. What’s that about?”
“You cannot be serious…”
We did it consensually, but you can’t expect them to just forgive you for drugging them…
“I figured since you have a harem, that sort of thing was already understood.”
“Not when someone drugs us.”
“Master? I didn’t hear about this.”
The mechanical intelligence Sumire grabs Van’s head with an iron claw, and lifts him. They’re really strong.
“That is not conduct benefiting of someone affiliated with the Galactic Credit Union Alliance.”
“No, no no! You say drug but…! It’s just a side effect of life tree fruit! It doesn’t happen if you don’t eat too much! If you just eat a slice the size of the palm of your hand, you just feel younger both physically and mentally! The daily recommended dose is like one strawberry! I drink it every day in a smoothie with other fruit or milk! It doesn’t have caffeine, so it’s like a healthy energy drink! Really really! It was just a little prank! It’s not bad for the body so ouch ouch ouch!!!!??? You’re splitting me in two!!!!!!”
“Harder, make sure he learns.”
“Very well.”
“I’m your master!”
“There are limits.”
We see the start of Van’s punishment by Sumire, and return to Tortilla Double feeling satisfied.
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
They’re really strong. -> She is really strong. (Sumire)
Thanks.