Mob No. 59: “Ah. I’ve already accepted that I have no luck with women, so could you please stop? If you don’t, I’ll have to shoot you down.”
I managed to attach a beacon to the Hands Brothers’ spaceship, a cream-colored vessel that looked like two cones connected together. After leaving the service area, I followed the pair at a distance.
Fortunately, they didn’t stop anywhere else and headed straight for that asteroid.
As they slowed down to dock with the asteroid, I fired a beam aimed at destroying their engine nozzle.
However, just before impact, their ship suddenly moved, and I missed.
Of course, the pair immediately fired up their engines and tried to escape.
It might be useless, but I’ll try calling out to them.
“You’re the pirate Hands Brothers, right? I think it’d be better if you surrendered quietly!”
[Don’t mess with us! We’re the infamous Hands Brothers! Who’d get caught by an otaku loser like you?]
[Women come to us. Though a nerd like you will probably never have that chance!]
Since I was communicating with video, they could see my nerdy face, while I saw the prickly-looking mismatched pair, laughing vulgarly and spewing exaggerated tough-guy language. They were listed as Pawn rank soldiers in the mercenary guild request.
“Ah. I’ve already accepted that I have no luck with women, so could you please stop? If you don’t, I’ll have to shoot you down.”
[Try it if you can!]
Well then, I’ll shoot without hesitation.
However, just like when they were docking with the asteroid, they dodged it.
[Hey! That was dangerous, you bastard!]
“But you told me to try it!”
[My brother’s skills are incredible! He even avoided your beam while sneezing!]
Ah, I see.
I feel a bit of kinship with them, but I have to capture them, so,
“Then should I keep shooting until I hit?”
I fired several beams, thinking one might hit, but they dodged them all.
[Whoa! Hey! Stop it, you bastard!]
And so they fled at full speed.
It seemed their ship was slightly faster, and I could barely keep up.
Occasionally, I aimed for their engine nozzle with my beam for both restraint and attack, but they skillfully avoided it, probably due to luck.
After chasing them for about 30 minutes, just as I thought I had them and pulled the trigger, the wreckage of a medium-sized combat vessel, probably a destroyer, came between us.
The beam hit that wreckage.
Forced to decelerate and change direction to avoid the wreckage, I ended up letting them increase the distance.
I quickly avoided the wreckage and headed in the direction they fled.
However, after about 5 minutes, an unbelievable situation occurred.
Somehow, I encountered a fleet.
[We address the small combat vessel! Beyond this point is the direct territory of His Grace, Duke Altischult-Bingil-Orvors! If you proceed any further, you will be eliminated as an illegal intruder!]
Well, there’s absolutely no chance of winning, so I stopped my ship by shutting down the main engine.
“This is a member of the Mercenary Guild. I’m currently in pursuit of pirates who may have entered the Duke’s territory.”
[We have no reports of such sightings yet. If discovered, we will handle it.]
The one responding was clearly a middle-aged nobleman, probably the commander of this fleet.
He was glaring at me as if I were something dirty.
Well, there’s no need to get upset over such a trivial matter.
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“Understood. If you capture or sink them, please inform the police or the Mercenary Guild. Also, if needed, I can provide information about the pirates…”
[Fine. Come closer.]
After I handed over the information,
[Hmm. That’s enough. Now get out of here.]
He made a shooing gesture as if chasing away a dog.
“Yes, I’ll take my leave then.”
Somehow, I was safely released.
I doubt those Hands Brothers are actually the Duke’s subordinates.
If they were, it would be too sloppy.
Well, even if it were the Duke’s orders, they’d probably just dispose of them, so it’s better not to get too involved.
For now, I’ll contact the guild and have them buy that asteroid.
[Hello. This is Roans from the Mercenary Guild, Itts Branch.]
“Ah, hello. This is John, Knight rank. Actually, I was chasing the Hands Brothers, but they escaped into Duke Altischult-Bingil-Orvors’ direct territory, making further pursuit impossible.”
[Duke’s territory? Come on. Could those small fries really be connected to the Duke?]
“I’m not sure about that, but I was blocked by the Duke’s private army. So I quietly retreated.”
[If you’d pushed it, you might have risked your life. That was wise.]
“The mission failed. But I’ve pinpointed their hideout, so please buy it. Here are the coordinates.”
[Understood. Come back safely.]
“Sure thing.”
The mission failed, but there won’t be any penalties due to the Duke’s involvement being an unavoidable circumstance. If they buy that asteroid, it should fetch a decent amount.
However, the moment I ended the communication, a danger alert sounded.
I hurriedly steered, and a beam passed just barely missing the ship’s body.
Checking the multi-camera, I saw two Grant ross-made combat vessels, G-22 [Bastes].
One had white and red coloring, the other white and blue, both with purple dog face emblems on their hulls.
They’re definitely not the Hands Brothers, but I can’t say for certain they’re assassins sent by Duke Orvors to silence me.
Meanwhile, the two ships approached, alternating their positions up, down, left, and right in acrobatic flight paths, firing beams intermittently.
It’s a feat that requires considerable skill.
This is no joke!
I haven’t even entered the Duke’s territory, and I don’t remember seeing anything dangerous, so I can’t afford to be killed!
For now, one option is to escape to the asteroid hideout.
A recovery ship might be there by now.
But they probably won’t let me do that.
Fuel must be quite low after chasing the Hands Brothers.
In that case, it’s safer to immobilize them first.
However…
Beams are raining down, and their movements are hard to predict as they separate and overlap.
I’m managing to dodge for now, but at this rate, I’ll run out of fuel.
Suddenly, the two ships split left and right and increased speed.
Sensing they were going for a pincer attack, I instantly tilted my ship to the right, raised the nose, briefly fired the attitude control thrusters at full power on the ship’s underside, and simultaneously stopped the main booster. Using this “shoot-down feint,” I aimed the nose at the blue ship on the right and fired a beam at its approximate position.
I hoped it would disrupt their pincer attack, but by chance, it hit the blue ship’s body and engine nozzle as it was turning. The blue ship couldn’t complete its turn and continued in the same direction.
I somehow managed to get behind the red ship as it finished its wide turn, and destroyed its engine nozzle.
Just as I was about to call for their surrender, a capsule-like object appeared from their cockpit section and was ejected at incredible speed in the opposite direction of the asteroid.
It seems they had a “high-speed ejection escape capsule” installed.
If I remember correctly, that’s quite an expensive item.
For now, the immediate danger has passed.
I’ll tow these two ships as both evidence and spoils of war.
I should have a rope and hook somewhere.
It’s good that we always wear spacesuits when boarding ships, so there’s no need to change clothes when we need to do extravehicular activities.
Still, I’m grateful that the red ship approached the disabled blue ship so carelessly after it was hit.
Thanks to that, I was somehow able to survive.
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bruh if the commander is corrupt and behind this he literally screwed up cause mc already made it clear what happened early on and the commanders fleet intercepting him and yet somehow ignoring the pirate ship and shortly after mc just happened to get done with situation. And gotta say focusing on getting the ships is smart vs going after capsule cause even if he caught them he’s got basic gun skills but they’re prob more skilled and def vicious so would only be risking his life