Xenos suppression force
"We're punching out in 5, bring the reactor back to normal output and contact the station for docking permission."
"Roger."
Waiting just a few more seconds, the Scorpion returned to normal space as River throttled down the reactor before establishing contact with the nearby station.
"Station, this is GCV-43 affiliated with the pilot's guild, we're requesting permission for docking, refuelling and rearming."
[GCV-43 this is Oberth memorial station, docking request approved, use taxiway 5 and make for pad 55a. Limit speed to 10 m/s and give right of way to leaving craft, flight control wishes you a happy stay.]
It had been about 3 weeks since River and Mike survived first contact and continued their journey towards the galactic centre, in that time they had strayed away from larger stations and been constantly on the move while hunting down pirates whenever they bothered them. Of course, only resupplying at smaller stations had meant limited options as far as resupplying railgun ammunition, and after hunting as much as they had the Scorpion was now dangerously close to being out of ammunition, hence the visit to Oberth memorial, a large, barrel-shaped station home to about 10 billion people and a major trade hub in the Solar Empire. While taking the moment to resupply, Mike also figured it a good time to settle their account with the pilots guild and claim bounties on the pirates he had reduced to debris fields along the way.
(That and getting a proper shower, or a bath even….)
"Man, we need a larger ship, and soon."
While it was a breeze to squish pirates in the Scorpion with its superior mobility and relatively heavy firepower for its size, every other regard of Mike's life had outright sucked over the last 3 weeks. Forget about getting used to doing his business in a bottle, Mike had only eaten stuff that came through a straw for way longer than he would like, and it had been far too long since he had been entirely out of his vacuum suit.
"You can say that again, we need something with at least a toilet onboard, that and at least enough space to stretch. I won't ask for an onboard gym but I need to be able to move my body at least a little…"
"Agreed, I'm thinking we take on a commission through the guild, something that pays a few mills, then we'll be able to buy a medium-sized craft and outfit it somewhat by selling this one off."
. I won't ask for a full gym but I need something to move around just a little, supplements can only do so much when we're just stuck in here for days on end…"
"Don't worry, with 4 mil in the bank we can afford a little luxury, but weaponry will have to be prioritised above all."
Docking with Orberth memorial station, Mike and River headed directly to the pilot's guild without running into anything out of the ordinary like a princess on the run.
"Welcome to the pilot's guild and Oberth memorial, what can we do for you today?"
Not at all bothered by the pair of people equipped with sharply loaded weapons and wearing bulletproof vacuum suits, the guild receptionist offered a cordial welcome to Mike and River.
"Hey, first thing first we need to shower, meanwhile please process these bounties."
Placing a datacube on the table containing records of the pirates he and River had taken out, the guild receptionist's face hardened slightly when he realised how many bounties were on the cube.
"Could it be there's something else you're after?"
Normally pilots used bounties as a sort of cash reserve, as long as one had the data and was relatively close to where the pirates had operated the vouchers remained valid to claim without any time limit, but more importantly, they held a fixed value unlike other goods and services there was dependant on supply and demand.
"We're in the market for a new ship, but that can come after a bath."
"Certainly, take elevator #2 to the 21st floor, I've assigned the pair of you to room 2107 for the next hour. After that please go to the 49th floor and head to meeting room #5 to discuss the purchase of a new craft along with payment for the bounties."
"Great, let's go."
Taking over the conversation and answering for Mike, River practically dragged Mike all the way to the elevator and all the way into the room provided to the two of them.
"Peek on me and I'll gouge out your eyes with your ribs."
Claiming the bathroom for herself, Mike was left with nothing to do and therefore planted his ass in the nearby couch before grabbing the tablet that was provided in the hotel-style room.
"Let's see what's on the local net…"
Killing time by looking at the local news, Mike found a handful of accounts of stations throughout the Solar Empire that had suddenly and inexplicably been decimated.
(Well, shit. Looks like the timeline has moved up compared to what it was in Interstellar Online, guess there's a good chance the gateways are already open… If they are, then the area must already be under lockdown. What's worse, the market is all panicked because of the recent trend of attacks, the price of weaponry and ships is going to soar so we should at least be able to get rid of the Scorpion, but buying a new ship might be a bit harder.)
Taking a more detailed look at the attack reports, Mike found that it wasn't all that bad, while some stations had been wiped out, some of them had also survived the attacks. While all information about the crystal-like beings seemed to have been thoroughly suppressed, effective defence tactics seemed to be commonly available, placing an emphasis on high penetration kinetic weaponry like railguns and kinetic energy missiles over lasers.
"How are things looking?"
Before Mike realised it River was out of the bath and looking over her shoulder, wearing her vacuum suit halfway with its arms bound around her waist and a white tank top Mike had to stop himself from staring as he knew it would be the last mistake he ever made.
"There have been some attacks on other stations but they appear to be adapting. More importantly, the market is currently in flux as local garrisons and security forces rearm and adapt."
"Meaning what exactly?"
While River had been using her spare time to learn about reading market forces and other skills essential to being an independent mercenary she was just starting out, unlike Mike that had spent far too long playing Interstellar Online which operated on similar concepts.
"Meaning it'll be more likely there is a ship we can use here, but it's going to cost as we'll be bidding against the demand set by locals. Demand is driving ships like the one we need from the rest of the galaxy to be quite expensive, but imported goods are always expensive."
"I see, then I'll look around on the net for stuff like railgun ammunition, go take your bath in the meantime."
Getting out of his vacuum suit for the first time in way too long Mike rinsed off before getting dressed again and chambering a round in his pistol as he and River headed to the 49th floor of the pilot's guild office. Exiting the elevator Mike glanced at the row of blank doors in each direction.
"This is a great place for an ambush, be ready for anything."
"... Sure."
Remembering that they were currently wanted fugitives, River also chambered a round in her semi-automatic PDW as she and Mike reached the 5th meeting room. As Mike reached to knock on the door it opened, but instead of the ambush, he had half expected there was only a single guild employee already waiting for him and River.
"Welcome, please have a seat."
Shifting into business mode Mike took a seat beside River as the guild employee laid out their earnings.
"We've processed all submitted bounties, the total comes down to 2.4 million credits. As a resident of Oberth Memorial, I would like to take a moment to personally thank you for making my system a safer place."
(2.4? That means we have about 6.4 million credits to work with, that's a good amount to work with, assuming the prices haven't ballooned entirely out of control…)
"About that, as I previously mentioned, we would like to trade in our ship for something a little larger, what does the guild have in stock that's around the 4 to 6 mil credit range? Preferably something armed with railguns or KEMs with the inventory capacity for longer expeditions without any support."
Laying out his preferences upfront, Mike waited a few seconds as the guild employee sorted through their inventory and presented a few different options on a tablet.
"These are what we currently have in inventory that matches your specific requirements. If you would present a spec sheet of your current craft I'll be able to give a rough estimate of its value based on our system."
"Right, our current craft is a UZ-PMC Scorpion medium defence fighter."
As River handed over a spec sheet of her and Mike's fighter, Mike didn't miss the employee's slight change in expression. Without a word Mike put on his helmet, prompting River to do the same as the guild clerk realised he had screwed up.
"Plea-"
"Nope, we're leaving."
Standing up with River, Mike put a hand on his pistol holster as other people entered the meeting room from a back door behind the guild clerk. While one of the people who entered wore the same kind of uniform as the guild employee, the other was clearly someone from the Solar Empire navy judging by the insignia on her shoulders.
"Please remain calm, I'm not here to arrest either of you… Mike, I'm just here to talk, and not through morse code this time."
Feeling River's glance at him, Mike took a few seconds to consider their available options before breathing a deep sigh.
"Fine, but this better is the last time the pilot's guild is swayed by local powers like this, otherwise I'll be switching professions."
Laying his loaded pistol down next to him on the table, Mike took a seat again while River folded out the stock on her PDW and put it to her shoulder as she remained standing. Neither River nor Mike was likely to trust any sort of government after their experience with the Trane Imperium.
"I am glad to meet the two of you again, as I stated previously my name is Kate Daniels, captain of the Solar empire destroyer Endurance, I am here today primarily to offer the two of you a reward for your actions in the capital station of the now-defunct Lex heavy industries, as well as discussing some classified information."
Sitting down at the other side of the table as the pilot's guild employee that had arrived together with her replaced the one Mike and River had been talking with, Kate presented the two of them with a data cube as she lowered her head slightly.
"Your actions saved the lives of countless Solar Empire citizens and pilot guild employees while also eliminating countless terrorists, this is payment from both the pilot's guild, and the Solar Empire and a personal bonus from me."
"... Just like that?"
Checking the cube, Mike found that he and River had just gotten 5 million richer and somehow had a hard time believing it came without any attached strings that could drag him and River into hell without warning.
"Yeah, just like that, this is actually a payment to get the two of you to stay and listen to what I have to say on behalf of the Solar Empire. You don't have to agree to anything, just please hear out the proposal."
"Fine, then let's hear it."
Still keeping his pistol on the table Mike made it clear he was at least willing to hear Kate out. In response, Kate glanced at the guild employee she had brought with her before they got up and left the room again. Taking a deep breath to calm down, Kate started explaining what had happened after Mike and River ran away from the station which had been attacked by those crystal-like beings.
"After surviving that attack I informed my superiors of everything that had happened expecting them to think I was crazy, but instead I was given a raise, a gag order and transferred to a highly secretive Xenos suppression force where I am now the lead expert on what the Solar Empire is dubbing Extra-galactic unidentified life forms due to how well my unit managed to combat the threat."
As Mike had predicted from the local news, the attack he and River had helped repel wasn't the first of its kind, and while the crystal-like beings were trough opponents they were only sending out lighter scouting parties for now, so it wasn't outright impossible that others had managed to survive an attack.
"... Wait, 'Xenos suppression force'? Care to explain why there's a plural in there?"
"That's classified. The offer I'm bringing to the two of you on behalf of the Solar Empire is to join our navy and this Xenos suppression force, while on paper you'll be my direct subordinates I'll most likely be taking orders from the two of you more than anything as you appear to be the real experts on the matter."
(Of course, she's here to headhunt us… While that makes sense I had sort of hoped it wouldn't be the case.)
Urging Kate to continue by responding with silence, Mike had already decided to not take her offer and join the Solar Empire navy.
"The current objective is figuring out how, why and where the Xenos are attacking the Solar Empire, then counter those attacks until a more permanent solution can be reached. I'm only the current expert because of what you told me, Mike. We could really use your help, the higher-ups realise this and are prepared to compensate the both of you for your work to a frankly absurd degree."
"And if we refuse you'll make sure we'll never be able to blab our mouths to other powers, right? Just appearing like this looking like you have the best of intentions is straight-up insulting."
Answering for Mike, River likewise wasn't taken in by Kate's crusty-sounding offer. Like Mike, River knew that if the Solar Empire was so willing to accommodate the two of them, they were equally willing to keep what they knew from their rivals.
"That's not going to happen. While a small part of the leadership believes we must contain knowledge about the extra-galactic beings best we can, most recognize the reality that it isn't just the Solar Empire under attack. Whatever is going on is larger than just the Solar Empire, the entirety of our galaxy appears to be under attack and nationalism will do nothing to fix that."
Seeing that the other side had misread her and the Solar Empire's intentions, Kate did her best to explain where they were coming from.
"And that's why we're not joining the Solar Empire, or any other navy for that reason. This is larger than any single power, and we need cooperation across all fronts to deal with it."
Having turned down her offer, Mike expected a stronger reaction from Kate than just a quick sigh and casual resignation as she quickly went on to the next topic.
"In that case, the Solar Empire won't impede your actions going forward, but we will appreciate and compensate the two of you for any additional information you can share."
"Well, we can do that much."
Seeing how sincere Kate was coming across, Mike decided to sell some information before getting back to buying a new ship from the pilot's guild, this time with the Solar Empire making the pilot's guild aware that arming them was a national security priority.
"Let's see, I believe this is where we left off."
Having returned to offer Mike and River a list of ships that matched their earlier prerequisites, that is to say, outdated prerequisites.
"Actually we're now looking for ships in the 6 to 11 mil range, still armed primarily with KEMs or railguns that can be operated with just two people and good endurance. Furthermore, the Solar Empire will be buying our old ship so please disregard selling that in the final price estimate."
"Certainly, one moment…"
Going through the guild inventory again with new parameters, the guild employee presented Mike and River with 3 choices that fulfilled all their prerequisites and more. Looking over their available choices, Mike and River quickly settled on a new ship, one far better than they had originally hoped to find.
---
I released a short story I wrote a while ago, it should be under the auxiliary volume.