Chapter 13
# 013 – Again at the Mercenary Guild and the Large-scale SubjugationOperation
“Ou . If it ain’t the lad from yester… day…”
The moment the receptionist uncle saw Mimi’s cute visage peeking over from behind me, his expression stiffened .
“A lot of stuff happened yesterday and this girl ended up boarding my ship as a result . I’d like for her to train in the basics of being a ship operator so we came here to see if you had any resource materials or training apps we could use . ”“P- Pleased to make your acquaintance sir…”
The uncle’s hands grabbed me by the shirt with incredible momentum and forcefully raised me up . You’re expression looks hella terrifying uncle!
“The hell d’ya mean by this huuh…!?”
“I get it! I get it! I’ll tell you everything so please let me go uncle! You’re face looks really scary man!”
“What about my face!?”
“But it really is scary uncle! Look, even Mimi’s terrified . ”
“Ku~h…”The receptionist uncle released me while sporting a deadly serious expression . He plopped down on his seat, closed his eyes and took deep, long breaths in order to calm down . I also let out a sigh of relief . I was about to piss my pants there man .
“It’ll take quite a while if I start from the beginning . ”
“Just start from the beginning kid . ”
“Yes!”
I ended up telling every detail about how Mimi came to board my ship while being glared at by the uncle with a terrifying scowl on his face .
“This guy just started out as a merc and managed to land himself such a wonderful encounter in the span of a day while I’ve been slugging it out for fifteen years in this business and have absolutely nothing to show for it!? Isn’t this unfair!?”
“Is this the gap between our destinies!?” the receptionist uncle lamented towards the heavens and slumped powerlessly on top of his desk right afterwards . He then began crying buckets of tears . They were manly tears filled with the bitterness of defeat . Mimi and I could certainly feel the intensity of uncle’s emotions .
Another staff member of the Mercenary Guild came out in order to ask what the fuss was all about . When she found out the situation, she had the uncle escorted back inside the staff room . Farewell uncle .
“E~tto, I apologize for our staff’s rude conduct earlier sir,” the female receptionist said with a troubled smile on her face as she cleaned up the tear stains uncle left on the desk . I bet I’d also have the same expression if I were in her shoes . Bet anyone would actually .
“Uh, I better explain the reason why we came here again I guess . ”
“I’m sorry to trouble you sir, but I’d appreciate it if you did so,” the lady replied as she bowed her head apologetically towards me . I started going over our circumstances .
“Understood . So you came in order to register this girl as an official crewmember and to obtain training materials and apps for ship operators, correct?”
“That’s about it . ”
“Thank you for your help ma’am . ”
The new receptionist lady efficiently took care of all the related procedures and prepared the training materials . The training app was installed on Mimi’s tablet terminal so she could use it right away . It was a great program where an AI training instructor would impart the know-how of being a ship operator starting with the basics . It was also bundled with an app which would display the ship’s status and the total available assets in an easy to understand way .
“I’ve also included an info gathering app, so please do your best okay . ”
“Y- Yes!”
“It would greatly help me if Mimi gets to learn all this stuff . Give it your all kay . ”
“I understand . ”
Mimi immediately began to go over all the installed apps with a serious demeanor . Yep, go for it girl . It’ll make my life easier too . Different from the game, it seems you have to go through a lot of complicated procedures as you go around this world .
“Oh yeah . I was wondering if it would be better if this girl can also train in some self-defense techniques, or maybe get a self-defense weapon for her personal use . ”
“Hm . That would be a bit difficult sir . You can’t really master self-defense techniques in just a few days after all . It’s the same for handling weapons . ”
“So that’s the case huh . ”
“That’s the case sir . But it would be good to let her have a laser gun in any case, even if she doesn’t actually use it . It will serve as an effective deterrent and prevent most shady folk from getting any ideas . ”
“I see . ”
“Shall I prepare one sir?”
“Please do . ”
So the Mercenary Guild also distributes weapons huh? Come to think of it, I didn’t manage to find a gun shop when I was doing some research yesterday . So things like this were regulated by the Guild or related government organizations huh .
The laser gun for Mimi’s use was soon prepared, and we were then guided to the Mercenary Guild’s shooting range in order to perform test shots .
How good is Mimi with a gun? Well, if she doesn’t stop closing her eyes whenever she shoots, she wouldn’t be able to hit anything .
After the shooting practice, we returned to the ship and decided to take it slow for a few days . Mimi was still fatigued from her time in the back alleys, so she had to take ample rest . Fortunately, we wouldn’t run out of funds anytime soon even if we don’t work for some time .
I was also interested in the major pirate subjugation operation Elma mentioned . It would result in a pretty large-scale battle once they attacked the pirate’s main base, and those kinds of events in the game would provide a great amount of rewards proportionate to the number of enemies you manage to defeat .
I honestly didn’t want to miss such a golden opportunity .
And so I spent my days working up a sweat in the training room in the mornings and taking a quick shower afterwards . I studied together with Mimi in the afternoon (There were lessons useful for mercenary work available on the training app as well), searched the net for useful info, exchanged messages with the disappointing space elf and sometimes flirted around with Mimi as well .
Finally, the long anticipated pirate subjugation operation was officially announced by the Termaine System Armed Forces . The Mercenary Guild was solicited for assistance as well .
“It’s real convenient that briefings can be done remotely no matter where you are without the need to gather in one particular place . ”
“Yes it is . ”
I sat on the pilot seat inside the cockpit while Mimi sat on the operator seat behind me . We were both waiting for the briefing to start .
I think it’s great that we didn’t actually need to come to the army base or the guild office for this briefing . You can even order food from inside the ship anytime, so you really didn’t have to take one step out of your starship if you wanted to . The starship interior may actually be the ultimate hikikomori paradise .
Multiple window screens popped up on the cockpit display right on schedule with the briefing start time . The names of each participating party was displayed on top of each window . Among them were the disappointing space elf Elma as well as Serena – the lady soldier I met soon after I arrived at this Termaine Prime Colony .
“Huh!?”
I suddenly felt cold sweat run down my back the moment my gaze met with Serena’s for some reason . What the heck? Weirdly enough, it somehow felt like an unpleasant premonition but at the same time not . Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be more careful of this lady from now on .
While I was thinking such things, Serena’s window widened and moved to the center of the cockpit display .
“Well then, let us start the briefing . I am Captain Serena Holz, the designated commander of this entire operation . Please address me as Captain Serena . ”
“Understood, Captain Serena . ”
Each participant expressed their agreement .
“I will now explain the overall outline of this operation . That said, it’s actually not that complicated . The place the pirates are using as their base of operations is located on an asteroid field in the Gamma Sector,” Serena began as a map of the sector popped on screen with a part of the asteroid field highlighted in red .
“The strategy for this operation is simple . Our System Armed Forces’ starship fleet will sortie first and then proceed to destroy their base through naval bombardment . Even if it’s their main base, the ones manning it are only mere pirates after all . I assume they’ll get routed without putting up much of a fight . ”
A number of the mercs participating in the briefing nodded in agreement with Serena’s statement . There was no way for bootleg pirate ships to oppose the Military model heavy cruisers and battleships of the armed forces . They’re outclassed in both defensive strength and overall firepower .
Mercenary starships may be able to take on a military warship under certain conditions . But it’s not usually something that can be done using a single unit . In addition, the military has both the numbers and a superior level of training to their advantage .
In other words, if you were forced to go head to head with a proper military interstellar naval fleet, it wouldn’t even be a battle . You’d get your ass handed to you without a doubt .
“However, as you well know, our fleet’s bombardment is quite powerful but a little lacking in precision . If they come at us head-on, we would certainly be able to obliterate the lot of them . But if they decide to scatter and flee using their small and medium-sized ships, we would be hard pressed to stop quite a number of them from escaping . That’s where you all come in . ”
Although it’s true that destroying their main base of operations and larger ships would do great damage to the pirates, their main forces are actually made up of highly mobile small and medium-sized craft . If a number of them ended up escaping, they would eventually gather together again to revive their organization . They wanted us mercs to prevent this from happening . In other words, we were tasked with remnant hunting .
No, that might not be the case at all . Since the pirate’s main forces are composed of these aforementioned small and medium-sized ships, aren’t we actually serving as this operation’s main attack force? Meh, doesn’t really matter either way .
“How about compensation?”
“Yes, about that . There will be no advanced payment . The participation reward will be 5,000 Enel, which will be given to each of you after the operation concludes . ”
Man, how cheap . The fixed salary’s dirt cheap . I expect the confirmed kill rewards to be a different story though .
“As for kill rewards, small ships are worth 5,000 Enel per kill . Medium ones are 20,000 Enel per kill . The large ones are worth 100,000 each . The bounty rewards already placed on the pirate ships will also be paid separately . We’ll also give you free reign to plunder their ships for goods . ”
“We plan to eliminate all of the large sized ships ourselves anyway . ” Serena probably thought to herself, judging from that confident smile on her lips .
There were varied reactions from the participating mercenaries, but the collective response seemed to be generally positive .
“The overall strategy is simple and straightforward . You mercenaries will be deployed in advance and hide within the outer areas of the Gamma Sector . We will directly attack the pirate’s main base and destroy all major facilities and as much of their forces as possible . You will stage an ambush and destroy the small and medium-sized craft which try to escape from the battle . We shall then mop up any remaining ships who will manage to slip away from the ambush . ”
It was a simple but efficient plan of attack . They will destroy all the high-priority targets with the first hit and prevent the enemies from escaping with a “net” of mercenaries . The military forces will take advantage of the enemy’s confusion due to the ambush to form an iron tight “cage” .
Afterwards, all that’s left was to gradually tighten the cage until all the pirates are wiped out to the last ship . While I was mulling over the operation details, the hem of my clothes was suddenly pulled . I looked over to find Mimi who moved from the operator’s seat and stood beside me .
“Hiro-sama, what if the pirates forcefully activated their FTL Drives in order to escape?”
“Don’t worry about that . If there are ships incapable of FTL nearby, the safety devices would prevent the other ships from activating their own FTL Drives . ”
“But if they took out the safety devices, wouldn’t they be able to forcefully activate their Drives?”
“They could, but I don’t think there would be anyone willing to try that kind of stunt . If they deactivated their safety devices, they wouldn’t be able to avoid space debris and asteroids large enough not to be repelled by their energy shields . If they do hit something under those conditions, they’d be turned to space dust in moments, or so I’ve heard . I’m not too sure about the particulars either . ”
“I see . ”
The game did mention that the safety devices were coupled with the obstacle evasion system, but didn’t go into much detail about the related theories . Or rather, the game was pretty vague regarding these sorts of sci-fi tech stuff . Well, it’s fine if we don’t know how these things exactly work as long as we can use them with no trouble . One didn’t have to know the exact details regarding how a microwave or cellphone works in order to use them right? It’s the same thing with starships .
While I and Mimi were discussing, the other mercenaries continued to ask Serena some questions . They were basically about the reward acquisition details, which didn’t interest me as much . For example, if multiple mercs ended up shooting down a single pirate ship, how would the rewards be distributed?
In case of a dispute, the military will determine the deserving party by going over the recorded battle logs . And in order to ensure transparency and fairness, the results will be publicly announced and handed over to the Mercenary Guild .
If there are mercs found to be deliberately stealing kills, they may be punished with rank demotion or, in the worst case, be expelled from the Guild . If one wants to continue being a merc, one should behave appropriately . I don’t feel like doing anything like that anyway, so it’s not my problem .
However, there was no one who asked about the thing I wanted to know the most . Is it because it’s considered common sense, or do they not care about this sort of stuff in the first place? Guess I’ll have to ask about it myself .
“Uh, I also have a question ma’am . ”
All attention gathered towards me from the windows on the cockpit screen . Elma looked over as well . She was giving me a “You’re going to ask something outrageous aren’t you?” kind of glare . Haha . I’ll try to answer your expectations ma’am .
“Yes, sir mercenary?”
“It’s my first time participating in this kind of large scale operation y’see . But if, by any circumstance, I judged further combat to be impossible due to factors like the ship’s energy shield failing due to malfunction or damage, is it alright to withdraw from the battle?”
The other mercenaries were dumbfounded after hearing my question . Elma facepalmed while Serena displayed a calm smile .
“You could choose to do so, yes . I understand that mercenaries value their lives as much as their reward money . It’s in your nature . However, it’ll be troublesome if one turns tail and flees even before the start of the battle . Our main objective is to completely annihilate the pirates after all . ”
“Guess that’s reasonable . But I’m a rookie y’see . And it’s a rookie-like thing to think about securing a path of retreat . And it wouldn’t be a joke if I was suddenly told something like ‘Fight to the bitter end, or you will be treated as a deserter and shot down . ’ y’know . ”
“You can’t possibly think we would do such a thing?”
“It’s not about implementing or not implementing such a policy . It’s because our battle formation makes it possible for such a situation to be enforced . I have a crewmember onboard my ship, so I have to be particular about this sort of thing . ”
After all, we would be deploying in a two layer formation during this operation . The mercs would handle close-range engagements, which the large-scale military warships aren’t suitable for . The military ships would take care of shooting down escaping pirates from long range instead .
In other words, us mercs are the hunting dogs while the Termaine System Military forces are the hunters who peer through a scope in order to bring down prey . The hunter’s role is originally to shoot down prey being chased down by the hunting dogs out into the open . But the scope can also be turned toward the dogs who try to flee . It won’t be funny if we were suddenly told that retreating from battle was not allowed and we would be treated as deserters who would be promptly shot down once the fighting starts after all .
“Fufu . I guess you’re right . Yes, the battle formation allows for it . But rest assured that we won’t do something of the sort . ”
“Glad to hear it . That’ll be all for me ma’am . ”
The reactions from the other mercenaries were varied . About a third of them looked at me with disdain evident on their expressions . Twenty percent looked somewhat impressed or curious . The remaining half were all indifferent .
“Are there any other questions? If there are none, then we will proceed with the operation . We shall sortie after an hour . Once your preparations are complete, launch out from the hangar bay and stand by for further orders . ”
“Roger!”
The briefing’s finally finished . Now, it’s time for battle .
TL Notes: I changed Serena’s surname from “Horuz” to “Holz” . It’s a German word . And RIP receptionist ossan… We know your pain all too well…
