Mob #57: “Ah, I’ve accepted that romance is not meant for me, so would you mind stopping? If not, I’ll have to shoot you down.”
I somehow managed to tag the Hands Brothers’ ship with a beacon and followed the duo from the service area, keeping some distance between us.
Luckily they didn’t stop anywhere else and headed straight for that asteroid.
The moment they slowed to dock with the asteroid, I took the chance to fire my beam at their engines to destroy them.
But right before it hit, their ship suddenly moved and evaded it.
Of course the two immediately gunned their engines to flee.
Doubt it’ll work but I’ll try hailing them.
“You’re the pirate Hands Brothers, right? It’d be better if you surrendered quietly.”
[As if! We’re the Hands Brothers who make even crying children shut up! Why would we get caught by a geeky loser like you!]
[Women come to us. Unlike a geeky loser like you, we’ll never lack for romance!]
They cackled crudely and spouted arrogant boasts.
Even though the guild request is only soldier-rank…
“Ah, I’ve accepted that romance is not meant for me, so would you mind stopping? If not, I’ll have to shoot you down.”
[Go ahead and try shooting us down!]
Well, I’ll take them up on that offer.
But like before they evaded me.
[You bastard! That was dangerous!]
“You’re the one who told me to do it!”
[My brother’s skills are amazing! He dodged your beam just now while yawning!]
I see, makes sense.
I oddly feel some kinship and affinity with them, but I still have to catch them.
“Then should I just keep firing till I hit you?”
I fired off several beams, figuring I’d hit them eventually, but they dodged them all.
[Whoa! Hey, stop that you bastard!]
And so they fled at full speed.
They seemed a bit faster, I could barely keep up.
Sometimes I’d fire to harry them, aiming for their engines, but thanks to luck or skill they nimbly evaded each shot.
After chasing them like that for 30 minutes, just as I pulled the trigger, the wreckage of what looked like a medium combat ship – a destroyer – drifted between us.
My beam hit the wreckage.
Forced to slow down and change course to evade it, I lost distance from them.
I quickly looped around the wreckage continuing in the direction they fled.
But after pursuing them for 5 minutes, an unbelievable situation occurred.
I’d stumbled across a fleet.
[Small combat vessel! Beyond here is Duke Archistrate Bingil Ovar’s territory! Go no further or you will be expelled as an unlawful intruder!]
Well, I clearly stand no chance, so I stopped the main engine and halted my ship.
“I’m with the mercenary guild. I’m currently tracking pirates, who may have trespassed into the Duke’s territory.”
[We’ve had no reports of sightings yet. We will handle it if they are found.]
The one responding was clearly a middle-aged noble, likely the fleet commander.
He glared at me like I was something filthy.
Well, no need to get worked up over something so minor.
“Understood. Then if I capture or destroy them, please notify the police or mercenary guild. And if needed, I can provide intel on the pirates…”
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[Very well. Hand it over.]
So I gave him the information.
[Hmm. That will do. Now be on your way quickly.]
He waved dismissively like shooing away a dog.
“Yes, thank you for your time.”
Somehow I got away safely.
Surely the Hands Brothers don’t have ties to a Duke…?
That would be far too sloppy.
Well, even if ordered by the Duke I’m sure they’d dispose of small fry, so I shouldn’t pry any further.
For now I’ll contact the guild and see if they’ll purchase that asteroid base.
[Hello, Roanz of the Its Mercenary Guild here.]
“Oh hi, it’s John, knight rank. I was tracking the Hands Brothers but they escaped into Duke Archistrate Bingil Ovar’s territory so I couldn’t pursue them further.”
[A Duke’s territory? Come on, there’s no way trash like them are connected to a Duke, right?]
“No idea about that, but I got shooed away by the Duke’s private army. So I turned back obediently.”
[Groveling was wise, your life could’ve been at risk otherwise. Good thinking.]
“The request failed. But I located their base, so buy it off me. Here are the coordinates.”
[Got it. Fly back safely now.]
“Roger.”
The request failed but there’s no penalty due to the Duke’s domain being force majeure. And they’ll buy the asteroid base off me for a decent amount.
But the instant I ended the call, a proximity alert sounded.
I urgently banked the ship, and a beam grazed along the hull.
The multi-cam showed two Granthross G-22 [Bastets] combat ships.
One had white with red, the other white with blue coloring. Both had a purple dog face emblem.
Clearly not the Hands Brothers, but no proof they’re connected to Duke Ovar either.
As I watched, the two continued approaching, alternating above, below, left, and right – as if performing aerial acrobatics – while intermittently firing beams.
Quite a feat requiring considerable skill.
This is no joke!
I hadn’t even entered the Duke’s territory, let alone seen anything sensitive, yet they’re trying to kill me unjustly!
One option is to flee to the asteroid base.
Maybe a recovery ship will be there.
But they likely wouldn’t just let me escape.
Fuel must be running quite low after chasing the Hands Brothers.
Then it’s safer to immobilize them first.
Easier said than done though.
Beams poured down like rain, their alternating positions made movements hard to predict.
Somehow I’ve evaded them so far, but fuel won’t last at this rate.
Suddenly the two split left and right, speeding up.
Sensing they intended a pincer attack, I reflexively banked right, pitched up, then simultaneously max-boosted the underside attitude thrusters and cut main engines to execute an [evasion feint]. I aimed roughly at the blue one now to my right.
Hoping to disrupt their pincer, but by chance I hit the blue one’s body and engines as it was turning, preventing it from completing the maneuver. It continued drifting on its original course.
Managing to swoop behind the red one as it finished its wide turn, I destroyed its engines.
As I went to call for their surrender, capsule-like objects emerged from their cockpits and were ejected away at tremendous speed in the opposite direction of the asteroid.
It seems they had [high speed ejection capsules].
I think those cost quite a lot.
In any case, the danger has passed.
I’ll tow these two ships back as evidence and spoils.
I should have rope and grapples on board.
Always wearing a spacesuit when piloting comes in handy at times like these.
Also, after taking out the blue one, the red one obligingly approached its helpless partner.
Thanks to that I barely managed to survive.
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