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439 – Sudden Incident

『Why ain’t the FTL Drive activating!? N-No, sto……』

“Sorry. I’m all out of mercy for space pirates.”

I didn’t even have any in stock in the first place.

I fired a shot from one of Krishna’s heavy laser cannons at the shaking rear of the fleeing pirate ship, delivering a finishing blow.

Oh? Did that ship actually manage to avoid blowing up because its thrusters were completely damaged beforehand? What lucky pirates. Since thrusters were normally supplied with large amounts of energy, 80% of pirate ships that suffer fatal damage there usually explode to bits.

“As expected, a properly put together ship does have good safety measures in place.”

“Right. But that also makes our job harder.”

“Even you have started saying that sort of stuff, Mimi…… Anyway, we better send in the combat bots as soon as Black Lotus arrives.”

What Mimi probably meant by our job getting harder was that we needed to deal with the space pirates who managed to survive on the ship. Tina and Wiska would be placed in danger if they ended up getting taken hostage by surviving space pirates the moment we stored the downed ship inside the Lotus without performing any cleanup. That’s why we first needed to subdue the surviving pirates and take full control of the downed ship. There wouldn’t have been a need for us to go through so much trouble if the ship simply exploded earlier, so, just as Mimi said, it’s simply more work for us. Well, we would make a bigger profit this way though.

“Um, My Lord. What about taking prisoners……?”

“We normally don’t do that. Normally, that is.”

“We need to take some if we can this time around, right?”

Normally, we just killed space pirates on sight. We wouldn’t take any captives and just dispose of them all…… However, in accordance with Captain Serena’s orders, we needed to hand any prisoners we managed to capture over to her. I guess she was aiming to extract info out of the captive’s heads.

“Anyway, I’ve ordered the combat bots to goad them into surrendering and to try and subdue them as non-lethally as possible. The survivors would be treated by Dr. Shouko, neutralized through anesthesia or sedatives, and restrained.”

“U-Um…… My Lord? What if they don’t survive the combat bot raid?”

“Then they’re simply out of luck. I wish them all the best in their next lives.”

I replied to Kugi and shrugged my shoulders as Mimi nodded in agreement. Mimi has become quite hardened as well. I feel so moved. No worries. Kugi will also come over to this side eventually.

“In any case, it’s been quite smooth sailing this time, hasn’t it, Hiro-sama?”

“You’re probably just tired, Mimi…… We just engaged in dangerous ship combat in outer space y’know?”

“U-Uh, that’s true, but……! How do I put this? Um, it’s like we haven’t been placed in some sort of pinch or got involved in something troublesome yet.”

“Oh c’mon. We were suddenly sent to the front lines to accompany the Imperial Space Force by direct order of the emperor, booked exclusively by Captain Serena, and then got ordered by her to hunt down space pirates. It’s more than enough trouble in my opinion. Aren’t you just saying that because you’ve become numb to troublesome stuff?”

“Uu…… B-But! Usually, there would be at least one more incident!”

“Mimi, it looks like you really are tired……”

“Are you trying to sidestep the issue by insisting that, Hiro-sama?”

“Of course not.”

I averted my gaze from Mimi, who was leaning forward indignantly from the operator’s seat. Anyway, there weren’t any problems for now, so isn’t it fine? It’s important to prepare for eventualities, but I don’t think it’s good to be too cautious about something that may or may not happen.

Didn’t that guy who was hailed as a legendary galactic hero say that one needed to adapt to situations while maintaining a high degree of flexibility? Uh, I do feel like that guy wasn’t exactly a great role model though.

I kept an eye on the surroundings while we chatted, and the familiar shape of a starship finally warped out along with a booming roar. It was the Black Lotus.

『Apologies for the wait, Master.』

“No worries. Please begin recovering the wreck, then gain full control of the neutralized ship. I’ve already marked it with a tag.”

『Understood. I shall launch the combat bots immediately.』

When dealing with a medium-class ship, you’d usually use a dedicated mobile assault pod to send in combat bots to conduct a boarding action, but that’s not applicable to a small-class ship. That’s why combat bots are sent inside a small-class ship directly instead. They’ll fly through space, attach themselves to the hatch of the downed starship, and then proceed to break through said hatch in order to enter the ship. The side being on the receiving end of such an action would probably find the experience terrifying.

『Hiro, there are some guys who escaped into the area we’re in charge of.』

“What a restless bunch…… Should we go and help?”

『No. I think they’ll be driven into the kill zone without any problems at this rate.』

“Alright. we’re not gonna make a move then. Just continue tracking them just in case.”

『Roger that.』

Elma dropped the transmission. In addition to its Gravity Jammers, Elma’s Antlion was also equipped with various high-grade sensors and electronic warfare equipment bigger than those on the Krishna. Naturally, its performance when it comes to those aspects was superior to Krishna’s. Therefore, it was relatively easy for it to keep track of the fleeing pirate ships with activated FTL Drives as well as the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet corvettes chasing after them.

But wasn’t the Black Lotus equipped with bigger and more efficient sensors, you ask? Well, yeah. But the Lotus was slow, you see. So the reasonably fast Antlion, which also possesses relatively high tracking capabilities, was gradually becoming an indispensable part of our hunting operations. Or rather, it already was indispensable. It truly was a great purchase.

『Master, it has been secured.』

“Got it. Please make sure it’s completely neutralized for safety. Either have the combat bots stick around until it’s neutralized or just handle it personally, Mei.”

『Understood. I shall supervise everything until it has been brought inside the Lotus.』

“I’m counting on you.”

Since Captain Serena and the Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet members already had experience conducting a star system blockade and sweep operation during the subjugation of the Red Flags, they were quick to respond and precise in their actions during this time’s operation. At this rate, we’ll be able to finish this job without much trouble.

The moment those thoughts ran inside my head, a transmission request appeared on Krishna’s main screen. Huh? From Captain Serena’s Restalias? And it was a transmission using a secure military line…… I have a bad feeling about this.

“Hello. This is the obedient and talented mercenary Hiro speaking.”

『Stop joking around. This is not exactly the time for small talk.』

“Goodness…… Mind if I just drop the call? I just remembered something urgent. Or rather, my stomach is starting to act up.”

『No. The Vereverem Federation’s offensive has suddenly intensified. We will temporarily stop dealing with the space pirates and gather at the supply depot in the Creon star system as a reserve force while also guarding the base in question.』

“Ugh…… Mimi.”

“I-It’s not my fault…… right?”

When I turned toward her, Mimi gave me a sheepish smile. Uh, well, it really wasn’t Mimi’s fault, but…… the moment I thought we’d be able to finish the job without any hiccups, this happened. Was I really cursed or something? Was it due to my weird ability to twist fate? If that’s the case, then I won’t be able to last at this rate unless I learn to control it.

“Is the situation really that dangerous? Isn’t it better for us to finish our job first?”

『I’m also of the same opinion, but it’s an order from Defense Command, so we cannot simply ignore it.』

Captain Serena also looked pretty displeased. We were just about to grab the tail of the so-called space pirates, but this sudden development completely messed up our plans.

『It will take time to analyze new information, so let’s just consider this as gaining some time to scrutinize and analyze the information we’ve managed to gather so far. Based on the power of our forces deployed on the front lines and the reinforcements that will rush here using the gateway, I do not believe that the empire will lose. However, that is not a certainty. You all shouldn’t let your guard down too much. I will send you the rendezvous coordinates so please go there as soon as you can.』

“Aye aye, ma’am.”

Apparently satisfied with my response, Captain Serena nodded and cut the transmission. Launching an offensive at such an inconvenient timing…… I hope nothing strange happens later on, but I suppose that’s a vain hope. Let’s just stay on guard in case anything happens.