Lt. Col. Serena sent imperial marine to storm the now-defenseless pirate base.
“I thought we were going to destroy the base without any mercy?”
“They probably want to gather more data from the base in order to improve the accuracy of the information they have on hand. That’s if they don’t get baited with false info.”
While explaining, I continued to control the drones to check out the downed pirate ships that launched out to intercept us earlier to strip them of usable or valuable items.
“Yes, yes, simmer down already, will you? I know you’re still pissed about what happened, but try to focus for now.”
“……Yeah. I’ll try.”
Yep, I was still pissed about that earlier stunt. Well, of course, I was. After all, if things went wrong, we would have died. And not just me. Mimi and Elma would have died too. I admit that the colonel’s orders were effective. As a result, an extremely efficient bombardment was carried out, and the defense systems of the pirate base were almost completely wiped out in one fell swoop. Since Krishna drew most of the anti-spacecraft fire, their firing lines would have been entirely exposed to the allied ships in the rear.
And we only survived that ordeal mostly through luck. The shield wasn’t penetrated, and even if it was, we could still rely on Krishna’s armor for defense. Even if the laser fire did punch through our energy shield, we wouldn’t have gone down that easily due to our ship’s tough armor.
“In the first place, you’re going up against a bona fide imperial military lieutenant colonel as well as the main commander of this operation. She’s also our current client. Even if her orders were reckless, it’s not like you can hit or slash at her in retaliation, right? You really can’t do anything drastic, so just calm down already.”
“Oh, believe me, I know. That’s why I obeyed her order in the end, right? I only want to get at least one good hit in y’know.”
“Please don’t…… The other party’s an imperial noble and the daughter of a marquis you know.”
Elma sighed in exasperation. I know. I know, okay? Depending on how you look at the matter, one might not find any issue regarding Lt. Col. Serena’s order. But… yeah, that’s right. It depends on how you look at it.
“What I’m really pissed about is the fact that she willingly risked my life and the lives of my crew members by brazenly ordering us to keep our course to draw anti-spacecraft fire. And as a result, I ended up showing something unsightly to the other mercenaries, and I basically didn’t have any choice.”
If I get called a rookie because of that earlier fiasco, wouldn’t I be unable to refute the naysayers? There’s a lot of other mercenaries present after all. The fact that I took anti-spacecraft fire in the face like a stupid sitting duck would affect my reputation, okay?
“Well, yeah…… that’s true. I hope your reputation doesn’t take a hit because of that.”
“Is it really that serious?”
Mimi cocked her head to the side after seeing me acting all indignant and Elma smiling bitterly in response.
“Mimi, a Platinum ranker’s reputation isn’t something to be taken lightly. Platinum rankers are the pinnacle of elites among an already small group of extremely skilled mercenaries. They are at the very top of the pyramid. The best of the best. The absolute kings of the mercenary world. If a Platinum ranker performs miserably in an operation, it could smear the reputation of all Platinum rankers as a result.”
“I see…… We can’t afford to get underestimated, right?”
“I’m about 70% angry that both your lives were exposed to danger, and the remaining 30% is exactly due to being forced to display what can be viewed as an amateurish mistake. Just thought I had to make that clear.”
“Yes, yes, I know. You’re a captain who cares deeply for your crew members after all.”
Elma gently patted my thigh as she gave me a consoling look. Honestly, I’m still quite angry about the whole thing, but if I kept this up, it would trouble Mimi and Elma as well. Let’s just try and move on then.
Before long, the pirate base was completely suppressed, and the fleet was ordered to return to Refill Prime. For the time being, the ships that were captured were going to be towed and placed in a temporary shipyard (which was basically nothing but empty space) near the colony. The Refill star system garrison was assigned to guard the area in order to prevent scavengers from sneakily stripping off and stealing parts of the ships.
“Well, we already stripped off the most valuable parts though.”
“Yep. And there’s a danger of deterioration if ya just left those ships stranded in space without them bein’ airtight and all.”
Tina nodded while checking the ship parts she managed to salvage through her tablet terminal.
“Apart from the hull frame and armor, the other parts are basically precision instruments after all. If they degrade, it’s going to be troublesome to repair them.”
While saying so, Whisker also busied herself with operating her tablet terminal. Under the control of the two sisters, the maintenance bots and drones hastily moved about the warehouse, scanning, carrying, and repairing parts as needed.
“How is it? Can we use them to upgrade our ship?”
“Nn, it’s not really that promising. Well, they’re above average, sure. But that’s only compared to the parts of other typical pirate ships.”
“They aren’t on the level of parts used by mercenaries and the military.”
“I think it’s possible for them to get better parts if they really wanted to. I mean, can’t they target civilian ships transporting high-grade equipment or capture merchant escort ships for the parts?”
“That’s true. How strange.”
“Ah, yeah, about that. That kind of high-quality equipment is usually reserved for the big bosses and those close to them. Unless they were forced to by certain circumstances, those types of high-quality equipment usually don’t get passed down to the lower ranks.”
“I see…… By the way, I have another question, Boss.”
Tina stopped fiddling with her tablet and looked up at me.
“Why are there still a lot of space pirates even now? I mean, starships aren’t exactly cheap. And besides, mercenaries and the military keep hunting them down, right? So why haven’t they been eradicated yet?”
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