Chapter 34

---3rd Person POV---

Soaring through the skies near the southeastern edge of the Holfort Kingdom, a small fleet of Sky Pirates were fleeing toward the Principality border. Having the misfortune of running into Yamato, as they were pursuing several civilian and merchant vessels, the pirates immediately disengaged and began running for their lives.

"Commander, they are gaining on us!!", one of the ship captains cried, "We are not going to make it!!"

"Shut up!! Shut up!! Shut up!!", the commander shouted, glancing back at the ominous craft, "That damn ship is supposed to be thirty miles due west, why did it show up here!?"

Taking a moment to think of a way out of this, he watched a swarm of over twenty missiles launch from Yamato's deck. Rushing toward the communication station, the commander snatched the microphone from the operator and sounded the alarm.

"Incoming missile barrage!!!", he howled, in a fear-stricken tone, "Raise the barriers to maximum output and brace for- "

Before he could finish his sentence, the missiles slammed into several of his ships creating massive fireballs on impact. Hearing the men screaming over the radio, a subsequent explosion, likely the munitions exploding, brought an abrupt end to their cries as the vessels began to fall out of the sky.

"Sir, the barriers are ineffective!!", a crewmember cried, as terror set in among the surviving vessels, "I…I do not want to die here!! I have my whole life ahead of me!!"

"Commander...o…orders please!!", a ship captain asked, barely keeping it together for his ship's crew.

"Screw this, we are out of here!!", another captain said, regretting joining the raid today, "All engines ahead full!!"

Unwilling to follow the commander any longer, as this was life and death now, the rouge captain felt his chances were better on his own. Spinning his wheel as far right as it would go, the vessel creaked under the strain as the engines went full bore to get them out of there. Aiming for a large grouping of clouds a half mile away, for a moment, he honestly believed that his plan was going to work.

"We are going to make it!!", he shouted, noticing that Yamato was not turning to chase them, "As soon as we are in the clouds, we will head for the…"

As the captain was about to say their destination, a brilliant beam of light came down from the heavens and engulfed the ship. In an instant, the crew and ship were reduced to nothing more than dust in the wind. Witnessing the spectacle firsthand, the pirate commander understood now why the Principality no longer dared to cross the border. Discovering how easy it was for the Holfort Prodigy to kill them, a new realization dawned on him.

"That son of a bitch, he is toying with us!!", he roared, "All vessels listen up, drop all unnecessary cargo and continue toward the border. While the ships are fleeing, I want all mech pilots in the air to distract that ship. Do as much damage as you can before it kills us!"

Doing as their commander ordered, crew members began tossing crates full of loot over the side while pilots quickly situated themselves in their mechs. Deploying the moment they were ready, the small team of fifteen pilots charged toward Yamato. Firing everything they had at Yamato; the ship's shielding effortlessly blocked all the attacks like gnats crashing into a windshield.

"Damn it, circle around and attack it from behind!! It must have a weak point somewhere!!", the pirate commander shouted, leading the charge.

<Captain, can you believe how stupid these bugs are? They think those pee shooters penetrate my shielding!! It never ceases to amaze me fleas truly are!>

"Who said that?!", the pirate commander barked, believing one of his crew members was pranking him, "Now is not the time for jokes!!"

"Commander, I have commandeered your communication frequency.", Victor told him, "Thank you for being kind enough to launch your mechs. I was hoping you would do it, unlike the last two groups we ran into earlier today. Prepare yourselves for combat!"

After giving them a warning, Victor jammed their communication frequency making coordination between the mechs impossible. Watching the Gundam drop out of Yamato's underside, the mech came barreling toward them at an extremely high rate of speed. Unable to communicate with one another, the pirates attempted to veer off, but most ended up crashing into one another. Those who managed to escape watched in disbelief as the Gundam pulled out an unusual looking sword from its hip that proceeded to cut through their comrades like a hot knife through butter.

"What the fuck was that?!", the commander spat, watching his subordinates break formation as they began running away, "I have never seen a weapon or mechanized armor like that before!!"

Witness the power of the Gundam, the survivors immediately began to run away like scared rabbits, aside from their commander. Unable to move, due to shock, the pirate commander sat there watching the rest of his mechanized units be torn asunder by Victor. Imagining what they must be saying in their final moments, the commander regretted crossing the border into Holfort Airspace.

"Damn it!! Damn it!! DAMN IT!!!", he cried, closing his eyes and accepting his fate, "Twenty-three fucking years I have been doing this, and everything I built gets destroyed in minutes by this monster!! If only that bastard king did not strip me of my title and fortune, I would have never become a pirate!!"

"Jeez, I guess I was expecting too much from a bunch of pirates.", Victor said, finishing off the second to last mech, "Now then, commander, show me what you can do!"

Shooting forward, Victor crossed several hundred yards in a matter of seconds forcing the commander to act out of instinct. Deploying smoke to hide his movements, the commander attempted to take some distance from Victor. Hoping to get off a lucky shot on Victor, he raised his rifle up to fire only to have a glowing red hand cut through the smoke and grab his cockpit.

"Burning Finger!!!", Victor shouted, as the Gundam's right hand began melting through the armor.

"Get off me!! Let go!!", the commander screamed, as molten metal began dripping onto him and his control console, "FUCK!!!"

Crushing the cockpit like a grape, Victor tossed the mech into his storage to be recycled later.

"Well that was disappointing…", Victor sighed, as he grabbed the fleeing ships with the Force, "Alright Yamato, I will bring them back to you. Make sure the men know we are not taking prisoners today. I do not want news of my new mech getting out quiet yet."

<Understood Captain!>

Returning to Yamato's cargo hold, once the pirate ships were tethered to her, Victor stepped out of the Gundam to examine the haul.

---Victor POV, A Few Hours Later---

After delivering the pirate vessels and loot to Luxion's facility, I headed to the palace to relay critical information to Mylene and Roland. Since reports were beginning to come in about increased pirate activities along the Principality border, they needed to have the latest information to effectively deal with the problem. Greeting the palace and royal guards as I walked through the hallways, everyone seemed in low spirits for some reason. Letting myself into Roland's study, I found Mylene sulking behind the desk with a depressed expression.

"Is now not a good time?", I asked, unsure what had her down.

"Oh, hello Victor!", Mylene said, snapping out of her funk, "What brings you here today?"

"I wanted to discuss the uptick in pirate activity, but it looks like something else is on your mind. Is something wrong?", I pressed her.

"It is Jilk and Julius, the two of them are refusing to speak with me anymore. This whole mess with Marie has all but severed our relationship, and it is driving me mad.", Mylene answered, motioning to the papers strewn across her desk, "We retrieved hundreds of documents that described the intricacies of our household, and the households of Julius' friends. Marie knew exactly what to say, how to say it, and how to wrap boys around her tiny fingers. I know you warned us about this two years ago, but being told about it and seeing it in person are two different things."

Understanding how violated she must feel reading over the documents, I could not image how embarrassing it had to be to have your entire life documented and laid out before you. This information could quite literally bring the downfall of the country if word got out because everyone would know how dysfunctional the Royal Family was. If people realized that the King was a pig, the Queen was overworked and exhausted, the Crown Prince was a bloody idiot, and his adoptive brother was equally stupid, they would fly into a panic as the stability they thought they had would come crashing down.

"Is there anything I can do to help?", I questioned, wanting to ease her burden a bit.

"At this point, I believe the Crown must deal with this alone. We have relied on you time and time again to fix things for us, it cannot continue that way forever. Had we been more vigilant, this may have never happened to begin with.", Mylene said, looking at me with a smile.

"There has to be something, Roland is not going to help you nor are your idiot sons.", I chuckled.

"Since you are being so insistent…", Mylene replied, acting like a shy schoolgirl, "I could use some of those chocolates and red wine you brought us a few months ago. They would lift my spirits a bit and make this whole thing a bit more bearable."

Chuckling at her request, I pulled the items she wanted out of my storage and placed them on the desk. Popping the cork and pouring her a glass, she let out a blissful sigh as she took the first sip.

"Mmm, delicious!", she giggled, "Moving on to more important topics, have you met a girl yet at the Academy?"

"Haha, not quiet yet. I am interested in the scholarship student Olivia, but none of the noblewomen have caught my eye. Surprisingly, no one on campus except Dan Fia Elgar knows who I am, and that is only because the Prime Minister and his father told him. Apparently, no one realizes I changed my name almost a year ago now.", I chuckled, taking a seat on the couch.

"What?!", Mylene gasped, "You mean to say that no one has approached you for marriage yet!? As the head of a Viscount Family, you should have dozens of women flocking to you for that alone."

"Well they certainly have not revealed themselves, probably because I have a habit of speaking my mind and beating the snot out of people that upset me.", I snickered.

"Ah yes, the Academy Headmaster told us all about your most recent spat with my son and his friends. It seems the staff were quite pleased with your actions the other day, especially after being made a mockery of over that stupid Royal Decree!", Mylene said, chugging a third glass down, "Honestly, I cannot understand what they see in that Marie girl. She is not the most attractive woman out there, she lacks feminine charms, she had no curves to speak of, and she is flat as a board!! Their fiancés are among the most beautiful women over your generation, and they throw them away for this basic bitch."

Seeing that the alcohol was already taking hold of her, I sat there and quietly listened to her vent. Letting her release all her pent-up anger, frustration, and sadness, she continued shouting for nearly an hour before blacking out. Looking at her peaceful sleeping face, it appeared that she felt much better after getting everything out. Stepping out of the room, I called her personal maids in to help carry her up to her chambers. Commanding them to let no one disturb her slumber, the maids acknowledged my orders before swiftly carrying her away.