NOVEL NEXT I'm Not A Hero
The shouting was still going inside the hall and it was getting more and more heated by the minute.
Truth be told, I don't have any attachments to this place either and it's not like I know Reese personally since she's just a client that we were escorting.
So it's not like I have much reason to stay and help them aside from being paid to do so.
I just want to say… I'm not a hero and I don't intend to be one… But…
I stood up and raised my voice, "ENOUGH!!"
Oh shit… That actually came out louder than I thought and everyone was so surprised that it's now completely silent after my shout.
I took a moment to look around the room, not so that I could look everyone in the eye but more because I needed the extra time to calm my nerves.
"I get it, we don't like each other and we barely tolerate the other side as it is. But this doesn't matter now does it? There's a group of bastards out there who are basically saying that even if we knew that they were coming, we can't do shit to stop them!"
There were a few scattered grumbles from both sides when they heard my words but I continued.
"We may think little of each other here but isn't there someone out there right now that both of us hate? Those bloody pirates who would attack either of us if we were found wandering out there, isn't it?! Now we have a chance to even take down one of their pirate lords and we're more busy fighting amongst ourselves than the real threat outside! Why?!"
"Because this isn't our fight!" One of the Mercs shouted back.
I noticed Amber swivel her head around to glare daggers at the person who spoke, as though she wanted to wipe that guy from existence.
I nodded at the man who spoke, "That is true, we have no stakes in this fight. We are only here because the guild told us to come here, right?"
Some of the soldiers frowned at my words but they kept their thoughts to themselves. On the other hand, the Mercs were agreeing with me and nodding their heads along.
But instead of affirming their thoughts, I stamped my foot in frustration, "Why are you guys even so proud to admit something like that?! If we are nothing but guns for hire, why do we even need a big group like the Guild to represent us?! Do you even know why there's a Mercenary Guild or why Mercs exist?!"
Everyone was just kind of looking at each other, pretty much telling me that they had no idea.
"Who do the common folk go to when they need some problem solved? Who do the community look for when they have some pirate scum they need taken care of? They look to us Mercenaries! We fight for the people!"
I could hear some people agreeing with me though a number of them were still sceptical with one or two muttering that they were really just being Mercenaries for the money.
I then looked towards the soldiers, "Those people who had joined the military are no different. We, as Mercs, had the resources to head out there and fight on our own, some of them did not have that luxury and wanted to make a difference in their own way."
Of course, there were some agreements and some disagreements coming from that side too but they at least kept their thoughts to themselves.
"We are both on the same sides! The pirates are our common enemy! We fight to protect the people who cannot protect themselves! The merchants, the workers, the children all inside this station are depending on us to save them because they can't run away! This is their home!"
I'm seriously talking out of my ass over here because I have no idea if this was even remotely true. Maybe everyone here owned a ship and could run away as well but what do I know?
In fact, the main reason why I'm even speaking out right now is actually more selfish.
You see, when I played the game before, I would usually prefer that things don't have too big of a change like stations or systems being taken over by other factions and would prefer that things just proceed along and maintain the status quo.
No, I'm not resistant to change, it's just that when things like this happen, the market also gets messed up and then prices will shift around which means I have to do all that market research all over again.
Right now my market is limited so I would rather the pirates not mess things up for me before I can even get a good idea of what's what and where's where.
I stood a little straighter and gestured to everyone in the room, "Those bloody pirates are looking down on us! Are you going to just take that? Do you want to be known as the ones who failed to even defend a station from pirates or even the ones who fled from the defence of a station?!"
I could see most of their eyes changing as they started to look at me with defiance. Obviously if you start questioning their abilities, they would want to prove you wrong instead.
"Or do you want to be known as the heroes who put aside our differences and obliterated those bloody pirates and kicked them back out to where they belong?!"
"Yeah!"
"Fuck those pirates!"
"We'll show them not to fuck with us!"
"Hoorah!"
I turned back to the Captain who was giving me a grateful look and he took over from there.
He cleared his throat, "As she has said, we seem to have lost sight of what we should be fighting for and I sincerely hope that we can put aside our differences to face this threat together. We should not be making the distinction that we are military or mercenary but just people who are trying to protect the people who are unable to protect themselves."
Given that those words were spoken by a rather high ranking military captain, no one refuted it and settled back down.
The screen behind him then changed again, this time showing the battleship and a group of smaller ships that I assume represented us Mercenaries.
"For the battle ahead, we plan to engage the pirates from below and aim to take out their battlecruiser before it can even fire its guns. For that, we need to make sure that the pirates are distracted enough to not spot the UTSN Watcher approaching them or they will realise our plans."
Amber muttered beside me, "Here we go… He's going to say he wants us to be the bait."
And as if on cue, the Captain said exactly what Amber said he would.
"I need the Mercenaries to be the distraction."
The screens showed the mercenaries approaching head on towards the pirate fleet.
"They will most likely only send their escort ships to clear you out so you don't need to worry about the battlecruiser. Once the fighting starts, we will start our approach and hit them from below and cripple their battlecruiser."
Now that we know we were being used as bait, a few of the Mercs lost their enthusiasm for the fight and went back to scowling at the Captain.
"That's a very high risk mission you're giving us… How many are you expecting us to return from this?" A Merc asked.
The Captain shook his head, "I do not require you to actually engage the pirate fleet, I just need their attention to be directed somewhere so even just staying out of range of their weapons and talking smack to them would work as well."
That assured most of the Mercs again and some even seemed eager to witness the battleship in action.
Amber rolled her eyes and whispered again, "Yeah… How are they going to pay us then? To get the pay we deserve we need to shoot down pirate ships… Can't exactly get a bounty pay when we don't actively engage the pirates to hunt their bounties… Might as well just join the pirates and loot the place instead."
Oh… Wait a minute…
I raised my hand again and the Captain raised an eyebrow, "What is it, young lady?"
"I was wondering if this battle plan can't be changed at all?"
"Not at all. We are most definitely open to suggestions especially seeing that we will all be working together. If anyone has any better ideas, please come forward and suggest it. You have my word that we will seriously consider it."
I grinned at him, "In that case… I do have an idea I would like to share…"
Honestly, I don't know if it will work but hey, it's better than nothing!
And with this idea, we might even completely wipe out the pirates too!