Incoming Press Report, Zero Light Years Away (Cryesa System Network Relay, Independent Controlled).

Lucynthian Authorities post a system-wide bounty on all pirate vessels operating in the Cryesa System. Mercenaries, bounty hunters, and civilian security contractors are only expected to provide suitable confirmation of sunk pirate vessels to claim the reward. The system-wide bounty will be in effect for three months, or until the pirate threat is ended in the Cryesa System.

- Sector Updates

+++ Jonathan Jones +++

Cryesa System

ISS Jukebox

Tracked by Pirate (Medium) Wolfpack

Tracked by Pirate Fast Wolfpack

Tracked by Pirate (Medium) Corsair

“It’s a simple deal, Ms. Juliett, Mr. Jones, and Captain Percival. You help us get our men out of that prison, and we exchange you the remaining crew of the ISS Helios, the crew of the two freighters we liquidated, and of course, Captain Roll and Captain McHover.”

The words of that pirate, who “named” himself as “Lord Preussen” sunk into our ears. Naturally, I could smell the blood boiling in the veins of the silent icons from the crew of the ISS Rearguard, as Harold and his three highest ranked officers were connected in the briefly established comnet between our ships.

Even Juliett really seemed enraged by it all. I had to hold her off, as while it would be comical to have them sliced where they stood using Juliett’s Particle Lances, they could get twitchy…especially when both Captain Roll and McHover were also in our comm net… talking with us while having a gun pointed on their heads.

“I…look, it’s up to you, Captain Perci—”

“Shut up, Captain Roll. We are not abandoning both of you. We’ll get you out of it. Ms. Juliett, Jonathan, look…I understand if you’re both disinterested, but I will bite. We will bite. For them.”

“No, I already went into this mission, and I’d be damned if we don’t get these hostages in tow,” Juliett said, and I noticed, her voice now held authority and was icy. “You…’Lord Preussen’, are you sure you want it to be this way.”

“Juliett, don’t threaten him.” I tried, but she snapped a glare at me.

“No, I just want to know, if this ‘Lord Preussen’ really wants it to be this way. Because I have my own deal. You hand over the hostages to us, and we let you off scott-free! That’s the deal.”

I tried cutting her off the comms, but it didn’t work. It was overwritten. She didn’t even bother to look at me. I wanted to tackle her off the microphone, but I knew that would be pointless because her core in the Radiant could communicate regardless, but…looking at her.

She’s dead set on rescuing them. Still, what if the pirates got twitchy? I understand that she doesn’t want to negotiate with dishonor, but this is genuinely goddamned dangerous. Still, I held my tongue.

“I see, you have one overly righteous lass in your group, Captain Percival.” He laughed, almost maniacally. He was offended, probably. I hoped he was not, because if there was something I didn’t want, it was—

A gunshot, and screams. There were women screaming, and other ones. Someone was laughing, and briefly, a picture was sent to us. One of the hostages was executed. The head engineer of one of the civilian freighters, it seemed. With a bullet to the head.

Oh god…

Juliett’s eyes widened, and I could almost see her Avatar Model pale, just as a look of fury took over. “What the hell did you just do?! You…you monster! You criminal!”

“Have respect, young lady!” Their transmission became briefly distorted as he raised his voice. “All because you have two shiny ships! What are you, an FEG or Union aristocrat? Did Stable Dynamics supply you stupidly with that because you had money? I don’t care for your autonomous ships you pompous rich pig! You would do well to silence yourself and do as I say, or…or the next one goes.”

“...You! Y-you rat! Absolute…”

I turned off my microphone, stood from my seat, and reached out to her. She was really pale…why? Why did her Avatar Model simulate that? “Juliett, calm down, now. I told you, we have to keep a level head, but—”

“H-he…he killed…that…that guy. He was…he was innocent.” She gulped, looking up at me. “Jonathan…I—”

“Look, it’s not your fault. That guy’s clearly has some loose screws. Just…look, can you stomach doing his deal if that means they’ll release the hostages?”

“I…it’s…I never had to do this. In my entire lifetime.”

“Can you stomach it? Look, just for now? Can you please…please, play along? These are pirates, Juliett. They have limits. They cannot just kill willy-nilly. Think of this as a…unequal trade deal.”

“Jonathan, how do you even know how these…these scums…criminals work?”

That smacked me in the guts, but I just held a tiny smile for her. “Have faith. Look, I know what we’re doing. I reckon Harold does. So let’s just try, to play along. They have problems too. They wouldn’t be asking for more. They just want an exchange.”

“An exchange? This… is the worst exchange. They want us to commit a crime just to save the skin of their friends, take our money, and then in exchange they let off Harold’s friends?” She really was appalled. “I…I…I just—”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Can you stomach it?”

“I’ll…I’ll try, Jonathan. I’ll try.”

“Okay. Let’s get back into the negotiations, with a cooler head this time. These pirates hold the cards. We can’t just fire at them when they have those people on their ships. So just…keep your head cool. Okay?”

“Okay.”

And with that, we returned back into our seats. “Alright, Harold, what’s the plan?”

“We…we need to go to the Escuardo System. Union Controlled.”

“Okay?”

“They…they have a mining outpost in one of the barren planets over there. One of their prisons holds these three high-value individuals for these pirates. Mr. Gomez, Mr. Serrano, and Ms. Cueva. They want us…to break them out, and in exchange—”

“I understand the exchange part. Shit……this will be dirty…”

“Will Ms. Juliett join?”

“I will,” Juliett said. “If I have to. But, I want you both to know, that I do not like this. This…this is distasteful.”

“It is.”

“I share the same opinion, but Harold, if this is what must be done…do your crew agree to do it?”

“They want to shoot them now, but…they know the truth of the situation. Yes, they took the bitter pill. We’re…we’re already choosing the men that will participate in the raid. I’ll be going too.”

“And I’m going down there as well. My shipboard AI can handle my own ship for me.”

“The Reaper-Class is pretty high-tech on its own, I guess…”

“Yeah. Same for Juliett…though, I don’t know if she’s going planetside as well.”

“Again, I will. I’ll be there with you all. I’ll see this through the end. You all have my assurances in that.”

“Thank you…Ms. Juliett. I don’t know you, and I’ve never known you for any length…but you’re a good woman. My crew also extends their thanks.”

“Right. Juliett…we’re going in. Are you still conversing with them, Harold?”

“I’ll…I’ll tell them we agree on the deal.”

“Do we have an accepted point where we’ll release these men?”

“Outer Escuardo system. In the orbit of a remote and uninhabited dwarf planet. They already gave me the coordinates. I just…we’ll have to go inside of that system dark, and hide from their patrols.”

“Don’t worry, we can do that. I’m sure, that we can.”

+++

+++ Jonathan Jones +++

Cryesa System

Lucynthia Station

“Fuck…” Was the only word that I could say when the three of us settled in our private quarters. This was…quite frankly, one of the worst ways for us to reunite. Juliett’s ships…understandably, didn’t dock at the station, once again staying out in the outer system, hidden away from the patrols and pirates around Cryesa System.

But the Jukebox and Harold’s Rearguard docked back again here. His crew was out in the station, trying to calm themselves down, while right now, we discussed our plans.

“We’ll try to gather some information first,” Harold said as we checked the data regarding our target. The Escuardo System seemed to be more of a Union backwater, without much in the way of law enforcement, settlements, and the like. “Colony of Luneta…more of a mining outpost than anything. Very sparsely populated. Also barren in nature. No atmosphere, no life, no water. It’s just a rock.”

“Still a profitable rock.” I scrolled through my datapad. “Luneta produces a lot of minerals for two nearby Union systems. It seems to be owned jointly by their Coalition Authority, as a penal colony, and by the La Plata Mining Corporation.”

“La Plata?” Harold asked.

“The old one. Traces its origins back to old Earth. Seems like it was based on one of its continents. Though, it’s more of a subsidiary instead here in the Saggitarrius Sector.”

Harold laughed. “Guess it’s just another corporate subsidiary that got trapped here by the collapse.”

“Though, I do wonder what continent La Plata is.”

“If only they didn’t destroy, distort, and censor the old Federation’s databases. Bastards, I say.” Harold said while Juliett seemed to keep herself silent, reading on her own tablet alone and silently.

Harold sighed. “Damn it…it’s going to be a pain. They definitely have guards on that prison.”

“Well, obviously. Not that they would expect a bunch of spacefaring bastards to drop down over there. Do your men have any equipment or training for ground combat?”

“Of course they do.” Harold placed down his datapad, before downing his glass of water. “My weapons officer is a former Colonel of the FEG Marines. He got fed up with their nonsense, but he sure kept his skills. My men coming with us have served in planetary garrisons as well, so that should do us well.”

“More of a ragtag group of civilians, to be honest. With some…military men.” I harshly said. “This doesn’t look good.” I mean, even I wouldn’t really count a lot on my own strength. I could shoot, kill, and fight…but I was used to Loran’s slightly more habitable domes rather than this.

“I…” Juliett started, and we both looked at her. She seemed like she wanted to say something to Harold, but she backed down. “No…actually. I’ll…I’ll just do my best.”

“Can she fight?” Harold asked, and I nodded. There was no way she could not. I think she just couldn’t say out loud to him that she wasn’t exactly human. I understood that.

“Yes, she can. I’m sure of it. She’s not just some fragile aristocratic young lady.”

“Why do people keep assuming that I’m one?” Juliett asked, and I myself wondered too. Well…perhaps it was because of her accent. Or the way she carried herself. Too refined and too… old-fashioned. I bet it was simply how she was programmed. After all, she was designed before the collapse.

“Because you dress like it. You have a very shiny ship too.” I said.

“Because that’s literally what nobles of some FEG and Union worlds are,” Harold said. “Old Earthling accent. Most of them were wealthy earthlings when they settled the Sector, and they held on to their ways. She probably descended from one. You? Me? Jonathan, we’re both colonials.”

And that…was when she seemed to realize it when her eyes widened. She laughed awkwardly. “Oh…I…I guess you all do have a point in that.”

“Yeah,” I said, fully remembering that part of the Sector’s history. Though, quite frankly, the nobility stuff had always seemed out of touch bullshit from those…wealthy Earthlings. All because the Federation was gone, they styled themselves as this and that while they held swathes of colonial property.

It was partly why the First Revolutionary War happened. Fools…even still today, they were still acting that way. Especially the Kingdom of Loran. Their “Royal Family” was literally just the wealthy elected bureaucrats of the Loran Colonial Government during the collapse.

A charade, that’s all there is to it. I thought to myself bitterly, remembering what those bastards did to my father, to the people of Loran, to myself, and to my former gang members. Clowns. That’s what they are.

“In any case,” Harold said. “We’re going in toward the Escuardo System by tomorrow. I…I still thank both of you. Deeply. This is a big help. I know Captain Roll and Captain McHover do too.”

“Don’t worry…we’ll get them out of there. I’m sure of it.” Juliett said, and I merely nodded in agreement.

This, however, was still one of the worst trade deals I had accepted.