Chapter 6

Episode 6. Pirate Attack (2)

The plan we came up with through the collective intelligence of the chat window was as follows:

First, load Ignis onto an assault pod and charge them into one of the pirate ships.

Meanwhile, I would control the patrol ship with extreme precision to buy time against the remaining pirate ships.

Once our Ignis sweeps through the inside of the pirate ship and jumps onto another one,

the last ship would be taken out by the patrol ship I’m controlling and the base’s defense turrets.

Honestly, the most crucial part of this plan was none other than my piloting skills for the patrol ship acting as bait.

But here, we ran into a small, trivial problem.

And that was the fact that the patrol ship I was controlling was much bigger and faster than I thought,

while my actual control skills were, well, not as good as I’d hoped.

Especially when it came to “control,” the problem was a bit serious.

*Thud!*

“Commander, if we keep going like this, we might not even make it to the pirates…”

“Hold on.”

*Crash!*

“Commander?”

“The fatigue is hitting harder than I expected.”

“Commander.”

“Hmm.”

As Jessica’s tone turned as cold as a frozen tuna in a freezer while watching my sorry state,

it became clear that in my past life (?), moving fleets, including patrol ships,

was just a matter of clicking a keyboard, mouse, or tapping a phone screen.

But here, I suddenly had to control an RTS unit in third person,

and the only mechanical license I had in my past life was a Class 2 driver’s license—

and even that was practically a closet license.

So, trying to control a ship in real-time third-person view was bound to lead to disaster.

The *thud-thud* sounds were all from the patrol ship I was controlling scraping against something,

or lightly bumping into the base’s armor plates and docking facilities,

causing a catastrophe where parts of the external hangar were crushed.

As I looked at Jessica’s icy glare, I had no idea what to say and could only avoid her gaze.

But it wasn’t like I could just skip this training altogether,

so I endured Jessica’s cold stares and pushed myself to improve my patrol ship control skills during the remaining time.

==========

Meanwhile, at the same time,

while the protagonist was playing bumper cars with the patrol ship and accidentally crushed part of the hangar,

the pirate ship approaching the star system where Jessica and the protagonist lived was filled with pirates excited by their latest prey.

“Hey, boys! Are you all ready to hit it big this time?!”

“Hell yeah!”

Recently, unmanned bases had been popping up like mushrooms all over space.

These pirates had been making a living by raiding such unmanned bases,

and as members of a larger pirate group, they planned to retire from piracy after this raid.

“Once this raid is over… I’m going to propose to her in the red-light district.”

“You dare?!”

“You little punk, get off this ship right now!”

“That guy just raised a death flag right in front of us!”

“Oh.”

Of course, their reasons for retiring weren’t as pure as they seemed.

“Judging by these guys, they seem like the ones sent by major factions to explore space early.”

“I’ve heard some of the previously inactive bases have started operating recently.”

Unbeknownst to the pirates,

as players from Earth began logging in one by one,

the “bases” they used to easily plunder had become too tough to raid.

Even before coming here, they had tried to “requisition supplies” from another base,

only to be chased away by a defense fleet more than twice the size of their pirate group.

So, this was their last raid.

After this, they planned to return to their territory and enjoy life for a while.

But finding a target that fit their policy—

“a place with weak defenses but plenty of resources to plunder”—was no easy task.

Especially since their pirate group only had three patrol ships to begin with,

it was practically impossible from the start.

It was just a policy, but…

“Ah, in the past, even with such a policy, there was plenty to eat.”

The pirate group, buried in their experience, had no intelligence left to find another way.

So, if there were resources worth plundering, they were either facing a force at least twice their size or, on the contrary, bases that were so poor even they had nothing to plunder.

In many ways, it was just one miss after another.

They were a pirate group that kept repeating these misses, wasting their time and energy…

Then one day, they stumbled upon a base that was growing in a completely different way from any they had seen before.

“Only one defense ship, and it’s just a patrol ship… the rest are all resource mining ships?”

“That’s right, boss!”

Even if it were a destroyer, having just one would make for a decent fight.

But to have only one patrol ship, just like theirs, and keep gathering resources…

“Guys, isn’t this just them tempting us to come and eat?”

“Exactly!”

“They’re practically begging us to take them!”

They were spouting all sorts of bizarre and obscene nonsense.

Their way of thinking, so pitifully uncivilized, would make even Jessica, not the protagonist, click her tongue in disapproval…

Sadly, those who could have given these pirates a proper mental education had long been ejected into space by majority opinion.

Having given up and decided to just enjoy themselves, they had become one with the pirates.

“If we just raid this base, we can return to our dear hometown, wash our hands and feet, and take a vacation!”

“Wow!”

“Waaaaah!”

“Enemy patrol ship spotted ahead! They’re trying to attack us!”

“Hahaha! What do they think they can do with just one ship!”

They seemed to have just noticed the situation and rushed out in a panic.

Laughing heartily at the patrol ship firing beams that couldn’t even reach them.

After neatly sinking the enemy patrol ship.

They leisurely prepared for plunder… no, ‘voluntary requisition’ of materials.

Unlike usual, all three ships entered full-scale bombardment mode, aiming for an overwhelming fleet battle result.

-Beep beep beep beep beep!

“Hey, wait, what’s that flying towards us?”

“Is it a missile? The reaction seems weak for that.”

But that very choice would lead the pirates to face the worst possible outcome.

-Kaboom!!!

“Ahhh!!”

“What, what is that?”

“Crazy, crazy!”

“Boss! A crazy woman just boarded our ship and is slicing everyone up…”

-Slice!

Probably no one could have predicted that.

==========

At the same time.

-“Commander, Ignis has just entered the far-right ship!”

“Okay.”

I confirmed that the Ignis missile (?) I sent mixed with some regular missiles had accurately hit the target.

Realizing this was the perfect chance to disrupt the pirates, I immediately pushed my patrol ship forward to draw aggro.

Of course, I had been training day and night for about two days.

But fundamentally, I was still a novice at ship operation.

If I tried to draw aggro by charging in now.

The much more capable pirate ships with superior ship-handling skills would quickly surround and pummel my patrol ship.

If that happened, my precious patrol ship would turn into space dust.

To overcome this disadvantage, I had come up with a plan.

“Jessica, have all the base defense turrets open fire.”

-“Yes, Commander!”

Using the base defense turrets, which were often criticized in-game as useless and better off converted into items or resources.

I was determined to give the pirates who dared invade us a unique experience.