Eirik had received the report from Bjørn after 2 hours and had read through it before going to the soundproofed room. Some of the engineering crew had, at his request, set up a sound system in advance, and Eirik was rolling a trolley cart in front of him, loaded with alcohol. When he entered the soundproof room, all the surviving 92 men of the commando group turned their heads to look at him.
"Alcohol and snack on the cart, music on the sound system in the back of the room, the party stay in the room. HAVE FUN, THAT'S AN ORDER!!" With those words, Eirik left the room as quickly as he entered and set course for the bridge. he needed to get this ship moving as soon as possible. He had the contact information of the colony leaders in the area and he needed to set up an agreement with all of them. With a heavy sigh, he tried to think of something as he stalked the corridors.
As he arrived on the bridge, an epiphany hit him. If his grandfather was going to play dirty with him, what was stopping him from returning the favor? As he got the ship underway, he typed out a short message for his grandfather, detailing the need for a diplomat with a semi-permanent posting on his ship. And while he did not say it directly, he implied it would go a long way in helping repair the ruined relationship between the 2. As a suggestion, he named Jensen, the young diplomat which Eirik had met under... strained, circumstances.
With this done, he finally returned to his room. He had been neglecting Freja and had planned a romantic evening as an apology. He just had to figure out how to get her out of the room for half an hour.
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Dalle was reading through the latest report from Jimmie. After the idiot's latest exploit, he had been beaten to a pulp by Eirik. Fucking Eirik. "How can someone so idiotic and naive still be alive?" He thought to himself.
After almost a decade on the run, out of fear of what his former squad leader might do to him was starting to get to him. He was not getting younger either. He was at the age where you wanted to slow things down a bit, maybe have a few children before it was too late. He was in his mid 40's right now and the years went by faster and faster.
Eirik had always bugged him. Ever since the first day he was assigned to Eirik's squad, the younger man had struck him as self-absorbed and arrogant. The others had said it had nothing to do with arrogance, merely a complete trust in his abilities. Granted, he had never asked for something he could not do just as well himself, but still. The fact that his brothers made up most of the squad had not helped either. They were all as insufferable as Eirik.
So, when he had been offered an immense amount of money to betray Eirik and the others, he had done so on the condition that they be killed immediately, and that ALL of his former squad got killed. To appease his fears, they had prepared a full brigade for every 2 of the brothers. 3 full battalions of Plyxii soldiers had seemed like it would be enough to secure their demise. But somehow, someway, that bastard had managed to not only drag his sorry ass to safety but the oldest of the brothers as well. And yet, those Plyxii, badger mutant freaks had taken the brothers prisoner instead, hoping to gain some advantage over the famous Terran commander that happened to be their grandfather, knowledge they had secured thanks to Dalle.
If he had suspected there would be survivors, he would have tried to hide his involvement, maybe he could have gotten away without consequence. As things were, everything had pointed to him being behind the ambush.
He had been complacent during Eirik's roaming years. The wandering would make him careless and eventually, Dalle would have his chance to finish what he started. Then the war happened and he saw the video Eirik put out. He knew, at that moment, that he would have to change tactics. Eirik had woken up, no mistake. The look in the man's eyes had been crazier and more determined than he had ever seen before. But he knew Eirik would increase his crew size and sent several of his own people to enroll in Eirik's crew. Only Jimmie succeeded, much to Dalle's dismay.
The boy was stupid, greedy, headstrong, loud-mouthed, and rebellious. A bad combination of character traits in anyone engaging in undercover work. But he had to take what he could get, and so far Jimmie had proven competent, yet, stupid as ever, challenging Eirik's authority despite getting strict orders to keep the lowest of profiles. And from his description of the woman Eirik had taken, it would seem that Freja was back in his life. Another bad thing for the execution of his plan.
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The bitch was as intelligent and deadly as she was beautiful, and she would be the best bodyguard Eirik could find in this universe. Not only because of her skills but because of the love between the 2. Apparently, their little dispute had not soured their relationship.
Dalle leaned back in the chair of the dusty, dirty little office he was currently occupying. Eirik had eyes everywhere and he needed to be constantly on the lookout.
"Sooner or later, you will leave yourself completely at the mercy of your famous good luck, Eirik. And when that time comes, I will be there, ready to strike." He mumbled to himself as he reached for the syringe on the tray in front of him. The tremors were returning.
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The trip back to the smuggler station went smoothly. Eirik expected nothing less, considering they were a small fleet of 7 ships. Upon their return, Eirik had received payment for the job and sent it to the soldiers of the commando group. He also sent the bonus for taking the ship first, something that brought audible cheers to echo through the ship as the men realized how much this one job had paid out. The dead soldiers' share was sent to the families and a fund was set up to give a small monthly payment for 10 years.
Not even the Terran military did something like that and Eirik was used to the confused but thankful letters that usually came shortly after they were informed of the fund, and Eirik had a good template for a standard answer reply. As much as he acted like it did not bother him, each dead soldier in his service pained him deeply. He always said goodbye in private in the ship's morgue, when they were on their way back. His insistence on taking the dead bodies back to Terra instead of simply committing them to the void was further proof of this.
But he felt like he owed it to the dead. They deserved to at least be brought back home. They had signed on, trusting in him to keep them alive. And every time one of them died, it was proof of him failing his duties as their Captain. He had a small black book filled with the names of the soldiers he had lost over the years, and he would need to get another one within a year or 2 of this kept up. As they docked on at the station, He let out a small sigh of relief
He had worried the pirates that had surrendered would have tried something, but they had kept very quiet during the trip. As his ship was the first to dock. he was waiting for them when they disembarked their own ships. He waved them over, glancing backward to confirm that station security was present and heavily armed, as always. Lasse had not cut spending on security gear.
"Why did you choose to surrender and come work for me?" Eirik asked as soon as the 3 Captains were within earshot. The 3 men stopped and the man Eirik had talked to before stepped forward.
"Because you offered us the one thing we have been denied for so long we had to turn to piracy." He said with confidence as the 2 other Captains nodded solemnly behind him.
"Which is?" Eirik pressed.
"A steady income. We all have families to feed, and we prefer doing so legally, if possible. But we will not hesitate to turn our attention to other people's surplus when we live in want. So if you fail to deliver on your end, we WILL turn on you." The Captain replied.
"Hmm. 6 months of training and monthly pay ought to take care of that attitude problem. To earn the chance at the profitable work, I need loyal men. Men that will not seep away when times get rough. If you do not possess that form of loyalty, say so now and you will be placed in a cozy and permanent security job with monthly pay.
If, on the other hand, you DO possess that kind of loyalty, tough it out through the training period and join my mercenary group instead. I can always use men who are not afraid to enter battle." Eirik threw his sales pitch at the pirate who took his time turning around and whispering with the 2 other Captains.
When he turned around he asked a question of Eirik. "What about our past deeds?"
"Forgotten," Eirik responded. "Whatever you did in the past is gone. You start over, as new men, leading new lives. Is this acceptable?"
"Can you guarantee this amnesty?" the Captain pressed the subject.
"Not now," Eirik said truthfully. "But give me 6 months and I know of a new empire that will be willing to make you citizens."
This got the attention of the pirate Captains. "A new empire?? Pray tell." One of the 2 other Captains said smoothly.
"Not a chance" Eirik replied sharply. "I have presented my offer. Now, what do you say?"
After another whispering session, all 3 of them approached Eirik with their hands held out to shake his. "We accept," They said with one voice.
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David was strolling down the corridors towards Jesper's room. When he arrived and knocked on the door, he heard Jesper's voice calling him inside.
"What do you want, David??" Jesper asked in the same irritated tone of voice he always used unless he was excited or angry.
"I hear you got a date in a couple of hours?" David said as he leaned against the door frame. The smile that grew on his face as Jesper paled was downright unsettling.