Chapter 51: Unexpected Situation

“Man, what a haul. What. A. Haul.”

A wide smile formed on my lips as I looked at the piles and piles of rare materials and loot we managed to recover. The amount of rare metals wasn’t much, but the number of expensive-looking high tech stuff was quite substantial.  It looks like we can definitely look forward to the profits from selling these things.

“It looks like we haven’t managed to recover dangerous items this time.”

“Uh… Yeah, I guess.”

“And what’s with that reaction, mister?”

“Eh? I didn’t really discover anything strange y’know…”

I ignored Elma’s piercing gaze and Mimi’s somewhat frightened state and closed the goods list.   Well, we can’t really expect to recover things like those every mission anyway.   It looks like this time’s a bust. How unfortunate.

Major Serena already sent the mission end notice earlier, so I guess it’s about time for us to return to port now. Though it looks like there were still some cruisers and destroyers anchored on the surface of the destroyed pirate base; it seems they were still busy securing the interior of the place.  Well, I guess the elite imperial soldiers wouldn’t let mere pirate rabble get the drop on them, so there’s no need to be concerned.  Their equipment wasn’t on the same level in the first place.

The mishmash of weapons and equipment the pirates have cobbled together wouldn’t stand a chance against the military’s high-end power armors and heavy weaponry.

What about me, you ask? I have absolutely no intention of tangoing with trained imperial soldiers with just my bare flesh and blood.   Even though my laser gun was really high quality, it still didn’t possess the capability to destroy a power armor in one shot. And, conversely, it would be all over if they hit me with their weapons even once. I don’t think I’ll lose that easily if I use my personal power armor stored on the ship though.

But there just wasn’t any chance to use the thing recently.  But it would really come in handy if we did get ourselves into a melee shoot-out by any chance, so I still try to keep it operational at least.   Not that I think we’ll be using it anytime soon. For now, it was still gathering dust in a corner of the cargo hold.

“Well then, shall we go back?”

“W-Wait a minute! You’re sure you didn’t recover anything strange this time, right!?”

“I-It should be fine, Elma-san……!”

After the two girls were done hastily checking on the recovered loot in a panic, we finally returned to the Alein Tertius colony. Our cargo hold was already filled to the brim after all, so we really couldn’t take anything else back even if we wanted to.

We unfortunately had to leave the rest of the loot we haven’t managed to recover.  I’m sure those scavengers are gonna have a field day with them anyway. There’s already some reading appearing on the radar. It’s probably them.

“Hyper speed drive, charging start. Let’s bail.”

“W-Wait a moment! You’re sure, right? You’re absolutely, positively sure?”

“It’s fine I tell ya. I didn’t manage to find anything strange, okay. There’s no dangerous stuff this time. They’re all safe goods. Probably.”

“Probably!!!?”

The hyper speed drive activated at the same moment as Elma’s agitated scream, and the Krishna disappeared from regular space after the sound of an explosion.

“Just how much trauma did that Singing Crystal manage to plant in you two? Sheesh.”

“Anybody would get a trauma from that kind of blasted thing, you damn idiot!”

“Really?”

“‘Really’, he asks…… I think it’s actually even more dangerous than those reactive torpedoes, okay?.  It would be an absolute disaster if you dropped that kind of thing, right?”

The reactive torpedoes were a type of highly destructive ordnance used to bring down large, heavily shielded and armored ships.   I don’t know how exactly they work, but it’s said those things were even more powerful than nuclear and hydrogen bombs.   And they definitely did possess the power to bring down a full-fledged battleship in one shot, so I guess they really were as powerful as they claimed.

And she was saying the Singing Crystal was even more dangerous compared to them? Well, it depends on how you think about it, I guess. Summoning a crystal creature swarm did last longer and caused more widespread damage in a sense after all.

“I see.”

“I see……? That’s how you react?”

“It’s Hiro-sama, so……”

Elma gave me an exasperated look while Mimi sounded somewhat proud. What are you being so proud for, Mimi-san?

“Guess you’ll be spending time with the princess again once we get back to the colony……”

When she finally settled down a bit, Elma let out a soft sigh.

“It’ll just be a week more before the contract expires. What should we do once it ends?”

“How about moving to a star system with more job prospects? With your skills and Krishna’s capabilities, we’ll be raking in cash in no time.”

“Mm, I’m not too keen on moving to a more chaotic star system though. You won’t have the time to relax in those kinds of places.”

In fact, it was very stifling to stay in such star systems since the military is always wary of sabotage and stuff, so strict rules are imposed.   In the game, most open markets and private shops were closed down and you could only do some basic ship maintenance and resupply runs.   I wonder how it is over in this dimension? It’s kinda hard to imagine.

“Um, we’ll be able to reach a resort planet if we make three jumps from this sector via hyper lane, and it seems there are a high number of pirate attacks on private passenger ships over there recently.”

“Hm, a resort planet…… Hunting pirates while on vacation doesn’t sound so bad.”

“But the cost for staying there will be high as well. But we’ll follow whatever you decide, Captain. And a vacation does seem nice.”

“Well then, let’s do just that.”

I have a grand goal of buying a detached house with a garden someday, but it’s not like I’m in any particular hurry to fulfil it. I’m also not that keen on searching for a way to come back to my former world, so I guess a nice detour for a bit of R&R wouldn’t be so bad. Let’s just enjoy things as they come then.

We finally reached the airspace of Alein Tertius colony and deactivated the hyper speed drive. We then sent out a docking request…… Hm?

“Doesn’t the colony seem somewhat strange somehow?”

“Eh? Yes, it does seem weird. That section’s power is cut off, right?”

“You’re right. I wonder what’s wrong? Ah, a red light is flashing on the docking bay.”

As we watched on, multiple ships launched out of the docking bay one after the other. It was as if they were running away or something.

“What happened?”

“I have no idea…… Mimi, can you connect us to port administration?”

“Yes, I’ll put it up on the main monitor.”

Mimi operated the console and opened a line with the Alein Tertius port administration bureau.  It would usually connect right away, but it was taking way too long this time. We waited for a while and finally got through.

『This is the port administration bureau! We’re busy at the moment!』

“Oi,oi. Calm down. This is Captain Hiro from the Mercenary Guild. We just got back from the pirate subjugation operation, but did something happen in the colony? What’s up?”

『So you’re a mercenary!? Oi, do you have a combat-ready power armor in your ship!?』

“Huh? Uh, yeah, I guess. Why……?”

I was puzzled after being asked a weird-sounding question and replied offhandedly.  Afterward, the port official on the other line screamed.

『Please help us! Our colony is being attacked from the inside by unidentified creatures!』

The port officer on the other side of the monitor desperately begged. It was quite sudden, so we failed to respond right away and looked at each other in confusion.

“Uh, even if you say that…”

“We’re mercenaries you know? Our lives aren’t so cheap that we’ll offer to risk them for free.”

Elma nodded at my words, and the both of us exchanged looks and shook our head. Mimi was fidgeting in front of the Operator console though; at a loss about what to do. Well, it can’t be helped.

『You’re still asking for money in a situation like this!?』

“We’ll ask for compensation in any situation.  We need as much in order to risk our lives. It’s only natural, right? Did you file a formal request at the Mercenary Guild?”

『P-Probably. I’m not too sure.』

“So you’re not sure. In any case, please guide us to the nearest hangar. Let’s talk about the details later.”

『A-Alright…… Uh, hangar bay number 32…… No, number 3. Please enter hangar number 3!』

“Got it. Moving in.”

We cut the line and followed the guide beacon to dock.

“We’re really entering? I would prefer not sticking our heads into something troublesome.”

“I’m not sure about the situation, but I get the feeling it would be worth something. Let’s just hear them out first. It doesn’t seem so bad to earn some more cash before Major Serena returns to port.”

“Will we be okay……?”

“I don’t think it’ll be that dangerous if we made use of the power armor.  Probably.”

In any case, we also needed to claim the bounties inside Alein Tertius colony anyway. It would be really troublesome if Alein Tertius got wrecked due to this incident.

After we docked at the third hangar, I left Elma and Mimi to mind the ship and contact the Mercenary Guild. I then headed for the cargo bay.   My aim was the power armor stored over there.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t had the opportunity to use this even once since coming to this dimension huh……”

A power armor is basically a mechanical armor suit. It would give the wearer the protection of thick armor and augment their strength to superhuman levels, and would allow them to wield destructive heavy weaponry powered by the armor’s dedicated power core.     It’s a futuristic weapon that gives individuals defense and mobility, as well as firepower akin to that of a tank in a more compact and agile package.

Well, it was a staple in most SF themed games and novels, I think. In fact, it was quite difficult for players to win against opponents wearing power armor without wearing their own in Stella Online melee matches.

Judging from the port officer’s question earlier, the thing that was attacking the colony was dangerous enough to require power armor.  Hm. I don’t think I’ve encountered an event like this during my time playing Stella Online though.  I guess reality really is different from the game. This sure is troublesome.

I boarded the power armor, started the boot-up sequence and let out a quiet sigh.