It was already 14 hours since commandeering the three freighters but the droids still had not finished their inspection of the captured cargo. He decided to inspect the Cantina of Blitzkrieg which he had yet to visit when he received a message.

“Commander.” a pirate suddenly sent him a holo with a confused face.

Ubel quickly recognized that it was the woman, one of the crew that went with him on the assault teams, a member of the boarding party on the second freighter. If he remembered correctly, her name on the list was-

“Oh, Mei? Yes? Do you have any questions?”

“No… actually. We captured the commander of this trading flotilla and he demanded to talk with you, what shall we do?” Mei asked. Although her face was still hidden and protected by a breathing apparatus that was part of her combat suit, he could see her black hair and the short stature of her armor. What made her stand out during the assault in Ubel’s eyes was her quick reflexes and reactions, jumping from one cover to another that caused the resisting crew of the freighter to get disoriented by her quick movement.

“I’ll handle it from here,” Ubel said as he sat back to his captain’s chair and sent his consciousness to control one of the droids inside Ship 2.

Mei who was standing near the droid, was startled as the inorganic companion beside her started twitching and turning towards her.

Then it spoke in a familiar voice.

“Don’t worry, I’m currently controlling the droid. The ships are traveling so I can’t just dock myself on this ship.”

“C-commander!” Mei who was still confused on the sudden turn of events, saluted towards Ubel’s proxy droid.

“By the way… those things that you did on the freighter, it was well done. As well as everyone else, it was my first time to see such an expert display of ground combat.” he praised them with a sincere tone that was also filled with pride. Those who heard his words had their faces lit up with satisfaction at his words. It was genuine praise from Ubel after he heard how the pirates suffered no casualty, only injury during the raid. "We've just taken a significant step towards establishing ourselves as a force to be reckoned with in this system."

And he turned to the man who was still restrained, whom he assumed to be the subject of the matter.

“Now, what do we have here… Is he the guy?” Ubel asked.

“Y-yes commander,” Mei replied.

“Hmmm…” he scanned the man and found the details of the man in seconds of searching the records from the captured ship logs that were taken by the droids.

It took him several seconds until he found the name that matched the face he was scanning.

“Captain Geisler Ericht, it's a pleasure to meet you.” he addressed the man who was forced to kneel on the floor with his other surviving crew. Ubel in his droid proxy, sat on the floor in front of the man.

The man however had the face of shock, fear, and worry as he saw a droid talking down on him. Then he quickly recovered himself and replied.

“I didn’t know pirates have access to Proxy Dolls…” the man muttered his sarcasm.

“Well, you do now.” Ubel countered.

“You know me. But I do not know you.” His voice was calm and composed despite the gravity of the situation.

“My name is Audubel Bladd Ulricht,” he answered. “I am the commander of these pirates.”

“Hmm…” Geisler eyed him warily, clearly still processing the fact that his fleet had been commandeered by a group of pirates. “I would have answered your introduction with a handshake but as you can see, I am restrained so pardon my situation.”

“No offense taken. But do allow me to reject your offer and have you remain restrained for the comfort of my crew as we travel. We don’t want any conflict at this point.” Ubel parried his sarcasm again, lightly. “So, you demanded my presence. What do you want me to hear from you?”

“I do not know who you are, but here in Sol… these kinds of actions will have consequences,” Geisler warned. "Though I must say, I didn't expect to find myself in this predicament when I set out on this journey. But my clients and employer would not be very pleased if they find that the delivery of their cargo has been sabotaged and delayed by a pirate."

“And?” Ubel was confused about what he was trying to do here.

“…” Geisler seemed to have been taken aback by the nonchalant reply.

“Commander, the man is trying to make a bargain.” one of his pirate crew cleared the confusion.

“Wait really?” Ubel was surprised at the revelation. He didn’t even know that the man was hinting at such a deal to happen between them. Then he gazed back to Geisler. “We simply saw an opportunity and seized it. But I am willing to hear what you wanted to discuss, so please elaborate on how we can move forward from here.”

“I want the safety of my crew and the return of some cargo. The rest, you can plunder it as your own.” Geisler demanded. “In exchange, we will bear no bounty upon you. And treat this attack as a natural incident in traversing the Belt.”

Ubel had become even more interested in that specific cargo. But he feels Geisler was not telling the whole truth. But he finds himself tempted to investigate these secrets instead of interrogating Geisler as such he decides to follow his gut.

“…” Ubel however, just continued looking at the man.

Perhaps seeing the silence on Ubel, Geisler spoke out loud again, yielding to any ransom the pirate commander may demand.

"Very well," Geisler said. "What are your terms?"

Ubel however just stood up and responded with unexpected words.

“Unfortunately, I am not in a bargaining mood.” Ubel just shrugged in his robotic proxy.

“W-what?! Wai-”

“Please gag him,” Ubel commanded as his droids obediently followed his orders and silenced Geisler who was struggling in their restraints. “Captain Geisler. I only asked you about your demands. But I am not responsible to yield to them. Anyways, I still appreciate your effort to make a dialogue.”

Then Ubel turned to his pirate crew who were guarding the restrained crew of the freighter.

“You are allowed to shoot anyone who will try something funny or escape, although just shooting them on their legs is enough. We don’t want to spoil our plunder too much before they are sold.”

“Yes, commander!”

Ubel then walked towards the ship bridge of the freighter where he was welcomed by several crew and droids when he arrived.

“Did you already inspect the goods we had gained?” he asked the command droid.

“The inspection is already 84% from completion.” the command droid replied.

“Good, now could you give me access to this fleet’s black box?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Aye commander.” the droid then opened a digital window and sent it to Ubel.

Normally, pirates don’t touch the black box because they don’t know how to access it and it would reveal their location, but thanks to his nano-implants and droids, he could safely decrypt the lock on the black box without getting tracked by the authorities.

He sifted through the logs, cross-referencing information and organizing the data to get a clear picture of their haul. As he analyzed the contents of the freighters, a theory began to form in his mind. He found out that this fleet belonged to a small trading firm, based on Saturn’s moons.

"These goods were destined for three private companies in the Faunus System," Ubel mused, his brow furrowing in thought. "Interesting."

He knew the Faunus System well from his time in the game. Although he didn’t know if it was still the same after 10 years of absence, he knew that Faunus was a hotbed of activity, with numerous factions vying for power and influence. The private companies in particular were known for their ruthlessness and willingness to do whatever it took to achieve their goals. Their client were Stern-Ballast-Ergo Company, Germaine Union Inc., and Asul Ltd. Unfortunately for someone who time skipped 10 years, he doesn’t know these three.

But thanks to the Blackbox, he also was able to identify these unknown corporations. These three corporations were manufacturing something for the Alliance. What it was though, was the real question as there was no information from the BlackBox.

The profits from the cargo they had been transporting were guaranteed to be 100 million in credits per delivery. A very lucrative deal for such a small trading firm.

Ubel also found more information about the UGTR's movements in the sector by combining the context clues from the black box and ship logs. These three freighters were actively aware of the UGTR’s movement and were also trying to avoid them.

A UGTR-affiliated firm, working for the Alliance?

Ubel thought for a moment and then decided to shake these revelations off. He was not a shipping magnate anymore. So he doesn’t care about who wins or loses in the future conflict between Terrans and the Colonials.

He was now a pirate, and he would steal from both. Also, even if he is involved himself, he will find it more annoying to get dragged by politics. Something that made him bored in his past career in the game.

Then he went through the list of cargo that this fleet had but found out that they had no designations. He sighed and realized that he had to wait for the inspection of his droids to finish.

He released the control of the droid and went back to his flagship, the Blitzkrieg while waiting for the inspection of goods from the captured UGTR freighters to finish. As the pirates and droids worked diligently to open and check every cargo, he took the opportunity to review the ship logs and manifests in detail again. Then after several rechecks and skimming, he was notified by a holo from a droid.

"Captain, we've finished inspecting the plundered goods.”

“Now send me the lists.”

The droid immediately sent him the result of their inspection.

“Sending complete, captain.”

"Good work," Ubel replied, his gaze fixed on the holographic display before him. "Now, let's see what else we have here..."

He scanned the entire list and scrutinized every detail, some were familiar, some were generic trading wares, but his eyes went wide open as he saw a single line in the lists of cargo.

Gaia Alloy Plates.

Now he had a clear picture of where this conspiracy was going.

His gut tells him that the Alliance probably had contracted Terran Corporations to build them a ship or two inside Terran Territory. But then, he sighed in disappointment.

“Tsk. What a bland twist if this is the truth…” Ubel clicked his tongue, he didn’t expect to get such a lame possibility. He breathed deeply and decided to ignore this conspiracy instead. Then he mused on where he could sell these plates as they are very valuable.

Gaia Alloy Plates were restricted by UGTR from being publicly traded as it was one of the core materials for the hulls of their capital ships. They couldn’t afford to have rogue or enemy systems get a hold of this precious ware.

Then Ubel glanced over the list of captives who had been locked behind their former ship’s brigs, their hands bound and expressions fearful. He wanted to dispose of all of his plunder in a single stop as he already had another target for his next raid. Then he remembered the best candidate that could cater to his objectives.

"Prepare the fleet for another warp," he ordered, turning to the droid acting as his helmsman. "We're heading to Banedog's Backyard."

The droids nodded in acknowledgment, quickly setting to work on securing the entire fleet again for the warping ahead.

In the furthest reach of Pluto’s orbit, Banedog's Backyard was a notorious floating asteroid colony that had once served as a UGTR outpost, then was abandoned and became a refuge for outlaws and criminals. Over the years, it had grown into a thriving spaceport and trading hub for those operating outside the law. His once favored stop when he and his friends would raid starports and colonies for fun.

His only wish was that the station still existed as UGTR could have erased it from their system during his 10 years of absence.

Then he remembered something very strange in his memories. Questions started popping into his mind.

He logged out from the game when he was boarded by pirates. But when he got spirited to this universe, he was sent 10 years to the future of his save game file?

It doesn’t add up.

Did everything freeze while time itself advanced? Or some kind of time dilation occurred that affected his reincarnation? He got even more confused as he realized the strangeness of his situation. But he decided to make a mental note of this instead and take care of it later.

He told himself that he must focus on the task at hand for now.

As the Blitzkrieg set course for their destination, Ubel couldn't help but feel again a sense of excitement. He opened up his communication with the rest of his fleet again via their holo. And they all answered his call.

Ubel’s holo stood again before the assembled crew, his gaze sweeping over each of them as they listened intently to his words. The dim light of their ships cast shadows across their faces, adding an air of gravity to the discussion.

"Now that we've secured the cargo and the captives, it's time to discuss our next steps," Ubel began, his voice firm and commanding. "But before we proceed, I want to know how your group typically handles your plunder, stolen cargo, and captured ships."

The crew exchanged glances, silently deliberating then one of them, a grizzled female veteran with long golden hair and a burnt scar running down from her eye to her cheek, spoke up. He noticed that his crew had a lot of varying hair colors in both genders.

"Normally, we add the captured ships to our fleet and sell off the stolen cargo to passing traders." She explained in her holo, her voice rough with years of experience in the pirate trade.

Ubel nodded thoughtfully, considering their options. It was a common practice among pirates to seize valuable goods and ships and then sell them off to the highest bidder. But in this case, he had something different in mind.

"Thank you for your input," Ubel said, his mind already racing with possibilities. "However, I propose a different course of action. Instead of selling off the cargo piecemeal, I suggest we take it to Banedog's Backyard and sell it there. The potential rewards are worth it. We'll divide the profits among ourselves and make a tidy sum."

The crew looked at him with surprise, clearly intrigued by his proposal.

"Banedog's Backyard?" one of them echoed, raising an eyebrow. Ubel quickly remembered that this was Bastille. The one he promoted to be Creed’s first lieutenant or first mate. "That's a bold move, Captain Ubel. Although there are no authorities there, the ruling gangs and bosses there won't take kindly to outsiders trying to sell stolen goods. The tax would be very, very high."

“So you do know that station?” Ubel became interested as they confirmed its existence.

“Yes, boss-I mean former boss Munda would never set foot to that station due to their… discrimination against us non-Sol outlaws.”

Ubel frowned with raised eyebrows as he heard his statement.

“Interesting.” it was his first time to hear any sort of inequality in outlaw stations treating other outlaws. Outlaws pride themselves on freedom and equality through merit. He thought that maybe something happened during his ten years of absence that influenced this kind of mindset among the outlaws.

Ubel nodded, acknowledging the risks involved. But he was confident in his ability to navigate the dangerous waters of the underworld.

"Anyways, I'm aware of the risks," he replied, his tone resolute. "But I believe the potential rewards outweigh the dangers. Banedog's Backyard is a hub for those operating outside the law here in Sol, and there's a market for goods of all kinds. We just need to find the right buyers. And under the right coat of FAFO, no gang or cartel would try something funny."

“F-fafo what?” Creed asked, confused about the new word he had never heard before.

“Fuck around and found out.” Ubel grinned. “These gangs would inevitably become a normal encounter as we rise with our reputation. So you all should get used to our fellow outlaws, consistently testing your guts.”

The other crew exchanged looks, silently weighing their options. It was clear that Ubel's plan was a risky one, but they also recognized the profit potential. And they don’t even probably have the right or power to reject his idea. Especially when they all realized that Ubel was keen on continuing with his plan to the Banedog’s Backyard.

"Very well, Commander Ubel," the scarred veteran said, her expression determined. "We'll follow your lead. But be warned, if things go south, we won't hesitate to cut our losses and leave you behind. We won’t die a dog's death, be captured by bounty hunters and outlaws, and sold as a slave. The poison that you gave us won’t stop us from choosing death."

Ubel met her gaze with a steely resolve, his mind already set on the path ahead.

"Very well then," Ubel said, despite confirming that he still had yet to earn their full trust, a smile played at the corners of his lips. "Let's make preparations to depart for Banedog's Backyard. We have a fortune to claim."