Drifting through the cold abyss that was the void of space was always an odd and somewhat unnerving experience, especially when the only thing between me and the never ending expanse was a mere armored environmental suit.

Most people compare the experience of free-floating through the void as if you were floating in a massive expanse of water, but that's inaccurate. In the void, there was no sense of 'up,' 'down,' 'left,' or 'right.' There was you and the vague sense of inertia that causes your stomach to shift if you're lucky enough to have the momentum to send you in any given direction compared to those who barely have the kinetic energy to inch across the void.

Having taken a running jump from my ship's depressurized cargo bay, I silently coasted towards the space pirate's scrapper ship so I could make my entrance without being detected by whatever warning systems they may have in place.

Between the shared HUD of my helmet's screen and my cybernetic eyes, I watched as my predicted trajectory and planned landing target updated in real-time while my suit made minor course corrections using the propulsion system of its mobility boosters.

As the next ten minutes passed, I finally reached the pirate's vessel and guided my suit's propulsion to have me upright and facing a maintenance hatch relative to the ship's positioning. "Alright Perci, what do I need to do to get this hatch open?"

At my question, I could feel a buzz of information needling at the back of my mind as my helmet's HUD proceeded to scan the alien machinery in front of me. After a solid five seconds, a panel that was positioned above my head was highlighted and brought to my attention. "While I could try to hack the system, according to my readings, it would be much faster for you to simply punch the panel, Rosie."

"Really? That's it?" I mean, it was a rather straightforward method, but still.

"Yep! Go for it, Rosie." Perci encouraged, and I could imagine her excitedly throwing a left hook.

"Alright, here goes nothing." I say as I grab onto the railing by the hatch and draw back my left arm. I could feel the building pressure of the machinery of my joints as I charged up a punch before launching my fist into the panel, destroying the rather fragile components within. I felt the muted hiss of air rushing out into the vacuum shake the railing as the ship's pneumatics made the hatch's panels partway for me.

Pulling myself through the hatch, I find myself in what was the equivalent of a storeroom, with void suits for various races, tools, and other equipment freely floating around in the now depressurized room.

Once I had floated to the middle of the room, Perci activated the magnetized soles of my armored boots, allowing me to ignore the current lack of gravity as I approached the door leading into the rest of the ship. "How about this door? Do I need to punch another panel?"

"Not this time, Rosie." Perci said with amusement as my HUD highlighted a button on a panel to the right of the door. "Hit that, and it'll close the exterior hatch and repressurize the room." She explained as my HUD then highlighted a second button. "Then you can use that to open this door."

"Understood." After following her instructions and hitting the first button, the exterior hatch quickly shut itself, and I could hear the room being filled with breathable air. The loose suits and tools also quickly dropped to the ground as gravity was restored to my immediate area.

Once things settled in the room, I went ahead and pushed the second button, the audible hiss of the doors pneumatics sounding as the doors slid open. Though it was at that moment I was now face to face with three people of varying races.

They looked at me, and I looked at them, and we just stared at each other for a full two seconds when they suddenly raised their weapons and opened fire with reckless abandon. A majority of their laser fire just missed me outright, though three bolts impacted around my torso and shoulder; the energy was absorbed and dispersed by my shielding as it managed to hold strong.

Instead of dodging, I closed the distance, trusting in my shield emitters and armor. With my left hand, I grabbed a bipedal insectoid by its head and smashed it into the wall behind them with a disgusting crunch. With my right hand, I ripped their laser rifle from their rigid hands and flung it at another insectoid of some variety, the sheer force of the impact cracking their chitinous chest.

I turned my attention to a reptilian humanoid who screamed in what I could only assume was panic as they leveled their laser rifle and began firing again, going wide with most of their shots but hitting me more than a few times in the chest and legs when I quickly closed the distance; grabbing the rifle by the barrel and twisting it out of their grip before using the weapon like a club and cracking their neck with a quick swing.

With the reptilian dead, I turned the rifle on the second insectoid and finished it with a single laser bolt before discarding the rifle and taking a moment to wipe the gooey viscera from my left hand with their clothes. "Damn, I guess going unnoticed is out of the question." I murmured to Perci before sighing and standing tall. "How are my shields, Perci?"

"Checking." Perci reported as my suit readings came into focus. "Your shields are at seventy-two percent; it'll take five minutes to recharge to full strength if you can avoid getting into a fight until then. I'm also detecting many life signs just ahead, Rosie; please proceed with caution." Perci warned as my HUD was updated with a short-range mini-map developed from a scan of our surroundings.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Understood," I replied before making my way down the hall. Considering the commotion I had just made, I didn't bother with stealth. Soon, coming up on the open doorway, I was greeted by what I could only assume was the brig.

There were easily several dozen beings stuffed into various cells in the room around me, with around a dozen others standing around a pair of what I could guess were prisoners who had likely been fighting until moments earlier. With how many people were in this room alone, I watched as Perci put out a pulse to try and ping the signature of Drayzl's omni-bracelet. Despite the dense population of the room, the pulse came up with nothing.

Seeing as nobody has opened fire as of yet, perhaps a bit of diplomacy was still possible after our initially rocky start. "Is there a Drayzl here?" I asked while giving the room another once over.

After a few moments, the freshly tenderized sack of scales on the ground spoke up as they raised a shaky hand. "I-I'm Drayzl..." They croaked out before taking a painful-sounding, shuddering breath.

Shit, he's already pretty messed up... Closing the distance, I unceremoniously punted the reptilian humanoid, who likely dished the beating to Drayzl, before taking a knee beside the man and projecting the invoice out from my omni-bracelet. "Great, I'm here to pick up a package from you for one 'Lazuli Ferense Hroz.' Could you please sign here?"

Drayzl looked up at me, blinking slowly and clearly struggling to breathe with unfocused and dilated pupils. "For my sister? A... A package? What package?" While I'm not personally sure of the specifics, I have no doubt he's very disoriented from the obvious beating he suffered.

"Uh... You." I explain, shooting a brief glance at the invoice before looking the man over again.

However, before I could get the invoice signed, one of the pirates seemingly grew a pair as they approached. My helmet's sensors alerted me of their approach as I caught a glimpse of a pistol in my periphery. "I don't know who you think you are, but you're not goi-hhk!"

Before I could think of a way to disarm the bug bastard, I was surprised to see a shoulder-mounted turret emerge from what used to be a standard piece of armor. I couldn't help but smile as Perci appeared on the turret. "Don't you dare touch my Rosie, you bug-eyed creep." She admonished, her voice blasting out from the built-in speakers on my helmet while wagging her holographic finger as the turret began aiming at the other pirates but not firing; all the while, the 'brave' bug man convulsed on the ground before soon going still.

I stood and sighed while shaking my head. "Now look what you did, Perci. So much for a peaceful extraction."

Perci harrumphed as she sat on the turret and crossed her arms. "Peaceful, my foot. You already pummeled those guys in the hall."

I couldn't help but scoff and shrug as I regarded her on her new little turret. "Yeah, well, what was I supposed to do? They had guns trained on me already."

Shooting glances at the pirates, I watched as they began to shift around with what looked like uncertainty, itchy appendages closing in on various triggers. "Rosie, it looks like it's time for a show of force. Let's see if we can't wrap this up." Perci quietly suggested from the internal speakers in my helmet.

I bobbed my head once before increasing the volume on my external speakers. "Listen, you lot, I'm only here for this one on the ground. If you don't wanna end up like that guy over there or your buddies down the hall, then you're better off leaving and pretending you never saw me." I made sure to stare each of them down, making eye contact whenever possible, while Perci sprung out a second turret and aimed them at those who surrounded us.

After a silent few seconds punctuated by the whirring of the shoulder turrets, the standoff finally ended as the pirates all began sprinting out of the hall, leaving me with my package and his crew.

Alright, back to business. I took a knee as Perci put away the turrets and settled on my shoulder. I called up the invoice on my omni-bracelet and held it out to the reptilian man. "Go on, sign it."

The man just looked at me again, his gaze gradually regaining its focus as he released a strained exhale before trying to breathe again. "B-but what about my crew?"

Dammit... I couldn't help but sigh as I stood and rubbed the back of my helmet. "Of course, how did I know you were gonna ask about them." I scanned the room for a moment, my HUD counting forty-seven individuals in the cells surrounding me. "There's no way, I don't have the space for them all on my ship."

With that, Drayzl started pushing himself upright with a clear look of defiance despite the protest of his very obviously bruised limbs. However, as the reptilian who had been on top of Drayzl moved to help him, Perci sprung out a shoulder turret, a menacing red laser lining up on the man's chest to keep him at a distance. "If that's the case, then I'm not leaving." Drayzl said resolutely before grunting some more as he stared me down, his gaze searching my reflective face plate, searching for my eyes.

I did my best to remain calm with the stubborn man and just slowly shook my head at him. "The 'Guardian Angel' package your sister paid for does not cover the liberation of your crew. My orders are to get you out of here and safely home." I explained as clearly as possible while pointing at the man with as much authority as I could muster.

At the mention of a price and packages, Drayzl looked up at me with clearly renewed determination. "I have around 50,000 credits saved up from these last few cycles, I was planning on a nice trip during my next leave, but would that be enough for you to upgrade this package of yours?"

That only incited the rest of the crew as they began calling out numbers, offers, properties, and favors like some screwed-up bidding war. "Dammit all... Perci, does this pirate crew have a bounty?" I asked as I looked over at Perci while she lounged on my shoulder turret.

Perci flashed me an expression that was the perfectly calculated mix of smug, amused, and outright annoying. "Why yes, Rosie, they do. Quite a substantial one at that."

I couldn't help but groan at the confirmation; the thin mask of professionalism that had been already slipping finally came off. "Fine, fine... I get it," I said as I went about using my left hand to crush and snap the locks to the various cells. "I'll just take this crew's bounty to upgrade this commission." I said as I began pulling Drayzl to his feet after taking him up by his hand.

Drayzl did his best to smile at me despite the bruising and swelling that affected his face. "I... I can't thank you enough... W-what do I call you? Rosie?" He asked with clear curiosity.

I just scoffed at the question while shaking my head. "Only Perci calls me that." I mused while smiling to myself. "My ID is Rose-13, but you can just refer to me as R13." I said before turning on my heel and starting for the door. "Perci, how are my systems looking?" I asked, glancing at her projected image.

Perci just smiled as she held a thumbs-up while standing on the shoulder turret. "You are combat-ready, Rosie!" She said as she pulled up the relevant information on my HUD, showing me that my power-cells were at a firm ninety-two percent after my guided drifting through the void, regeneration of my shields, and the above-standard use of my robotic limbs.

After giving everything one last check, I bobbed my head, reducing the clutter of my HUD as I left the brig behind me. "Understood."

In the next moment, I flicked out the telescopic baton from my hip to my left hand and drew my trusty laser pistol into my right. The pistol's data found its place on the bottom right of my HUD as I regarded Perci again. "So, what are the chances that the pirates will surrender without a fight?" I asked as we came up to a bend in the corridor.

Perci hummed a melodic little tune as I stopped at the corner of the bend. However, the moment I peeked around, my vision was filled with bursts of greens and reds as the pirates lit up the corridor, followed by the sound of someone barking orders to secure the brig. "Slim to none from the looks of it Rosie." Perci mused in an intentionally bland tone.

"Great... Well, let's get this over with."