NOVEL NEXT This Is Why You Don't Negotiate With Pirates
I paced around the cockpit, waiting for the pirates to show up.
According to Marten, they managed to pick up a few ships hovering on the very edge of the scanner range. They're expected to reach the station in another hour or so.
As for me, I've detached the pirate ship I've captured and left it in the hangar while I flew out in my own ship to wait for the pirates to appear.
I made sure to shut off the engines and only power up the life support and communications systems to keep my ship's heat signature low.
Even if my ship was shown on their scanners, they would think that I am probably space debris or something instead of a Mercenary ship lying in ambush.
My comms was also tuned into the open channel so that I could listen in on any conversations the pirates and the Mining Station might have.
While waiting for the pirates to show up, I went around to explore the parts of my ship that I have yet to check out.
From the exit ramp, it was a straight corridor to the cockpit with the ship-to-ship and ship-to-space entrance hatches arranged along the left before the cockpit.
There was an additional room to the right immediately after the exit ramp which led to a storage room where I was using to store all the extra food and stuff.
Then right after that was apparently a small living quarters and by that, I meant that there was a small kitchenette opposite a bunk bed with a small shower and toilet at the back.
Further down was another living quarters with the exact same arrangements except the bunk bed was replaced with a single bed instead.
It was definitely small but it was still functional I suppose. This was a B Class Heavy Fighter after all and Heavy Fighters are more focused on firepower than comfort of living.
Speaking of firepower, there's a reason why I was quite confident of taking on five other B class pirate ships on my own.
For my armaments, I had two medium range energy chainguns, two short range ballistic cannons, one long range photon laser underneath the cockpit and one medium range railgun turret at the top of the ship.
With a good pilot, this ship could take on C Class Destroyers and even D Class Cruiser ships by itself in a pinch.
I say that because there are other players out there who would claim that this ship was only good for dogfights between ships of the same class and I would say that they just lack skill.
Returning to my cockpit just as the one hour mark was up, I noticed that there was an incoming call in the open channel.
I sat down in the pilot seat and opened the map screen, noting that there were four unknown ships that had stopped a short distance away from the Mining Station.
A quick scan showed that there were two A Class fighters and two B Class Light Corvettes. I can definitely take them on if it comes down to a fight.
Flipping open the controls to tune me in on the open channel, a gruff voice immediately came from the speakers.
"... And you're on our turf, so if you don't want any trouble, we expect you to pay."
Marten's voice came next, "This… We will need to contact our superiors for this… This Mining Station is under the--"
"I don't give a fuck about who this station belongs to. Do you not hear me? I said to pay up right now or else we're blasting you guys out of existence for setting up here!"
"This… Even if you say that, we can't just arrange sixty million Credits just like that… I don't have the authority to authorise such a transaction for our company…"
"Then get everyone on that station to cough up whatever they need to make up the difference! If anyone thinks their life is worth more than credits, then they should be very cooperative, don't you think?"
"Please… Please be reasonable, everyone here are just simple miners making little pay. Even if everyone pooled all their money together, we wouldn't even have that much Credits…"
The pirate let out a bark of laughter, "Ha! Then are you saying that there is no way for you to pay?!"
"What… What are you suggesting?" Marten asked.
"Don't you have a transport ship that comes by to deliver supplies to you? We want those supplies of yours and you will keep giving them to us until the value reaches sixty million Credits."
"Wha… What? But… But then we wouldn't be able to survive without any supplies!"
"We're not that cruel, we'll leave enough for you to survive on, but everything else, we're going to take. And any money you have, we're taking those too. Do we have an agreement, or do we have to blow your station up?"
"I… I… Sigh… I accept…"
"Great! I knew you sounded like a sensible person! Now, we're going to plant a bomb on your station so if you ever have any plans to report us, we'll detonate the bomb and blow you guys up!"
"Wait! That's not part of the agreement!"
"Well I'm changing it now, what are you going to do about it?"
"This… Damnit! Why do you even want to extort us?! We have literally nothing! We're just a small Mining Station!"
"Hahaha! Blame your superiors for sending all of you here! From today onwards, your new boss is going to be us, got it?!"
"Y… Yes…"
I figured this was my time to enter so I powered up the engines and weapon systems before boosting my ship towards the stationary pirates.
It was only now did I realise that this would be my first space dogfight I would be participating in this universe.
I shrugged off the sudden feeling of uneasiness and decided to just treat this like I was still in the game.
My comms was still tuned to the open frequency channel so I could hear the pirates' surprised voices coming from the speakers.
"B… Boss! We've got a ship coming right towards us from below!"
"What?! How the hell did we miss that ship?!"
"Its weapons are powered, boss!!"
"Fuck! Is that a fucking Merc?! We outnumber him! Turn and engage!!"
I got within range of my photon laser and targeted one of the corvettes first, pulling the trigger the moment it got within my targeting crosshair.
A blue beam of energy shot out from my ship and hit the shield of the corvette. The shield barely held for a second before it shattered, leaving the ship open for the same laser to pierce through its hull.
There was a scream followed quickly by static over the comms as the ship exploded into a giant ball of fire.
Wow, their shields suck.
I turned my ship to face the other corvette who was in the midst of trying to turn to face me, opening its broadside to me.
I did not leave this chance to waste as I lined up myself for another shot, pulling the trigger again once I had the ship locked onto my crosshairs.
The ship suffered the same fate as its comrade, the shield barely protecting it for a second before it was breached and my laser pierced through its side.
This one did not explode but it was clear I hit something important since the ship's engines sputtered and died, leaving it floating helplessly in space.
The last two ships reacted differently with one of them choosing to charge towards me while the other was already turning away in order to flee.
The one chasing after me tried to fire several laser blasters at me but my shields shrugged it off without any problems.
Instead of going after him, I ignored it in favour of chasing down the one that was currently fleeing instead.
For this one in particular, I made use of my two energy chainguns that lit up the void of space when I fired them up.
A deadly hail of lasers blasted out from the wings of my ship, the fleeing pirate ship desperately trying to dodge the hail of bullets in order to escape.
Unfortunately for him, I adjusted my aim a little and the lasers quickly started peppering the side of his ship, shattering his shield in an instant.
He tried to bank away but my guns were still not done firing, two of the lasers piercing through the ship's midsection while the last one went through its engines, causing the ship to explode.
I tilted my ship and activated my turret's targeting system, allowing the computer to automatically target the last pirate ship that had tried to turn back around to attack me again.
The railgun turret fired a single round and the projectile went through both the fighter's shield and hull in a single shot, sending the ship careening off into space before it also exploded.
Well… I didn't want to say it but…
That was easy.