Ezuiz was in a great mood. As he observed the mysterious universe through the glass in front of him, he felt like he was on top of the world.

He and his crew had been hovering around the border for a while. They hoped to fish in troubled waters while avoiding the direct confrontation between the Luminous Army and the Estophian Kingdom.

The conflict between them had been ongoing since the empire’s founding but has recently flared up again.

Many pirates and other naïve idiots were attracted to this conflict seeking their own fortune. And Ezuiz was naturally one of them.

Since his crew already proudly named themselves Vulture Gang, how could the not try to search for crumbs left behind by the big guys?

Finally, this decision proved to be the best he ever made.

After hundreds of years as a pirate they had finally hit the jackpot a while again.

The smug smile never left Ezuiz face as he turned around. His eyes swept past the still celebrating officers as they landed on a middle-aged man.

Bound by highly advanced magical shackles and constantly watched by the strongest warriors of their crew, this man wouldn’t be able to start any trouble. In fact, he couldn’t even stand up as Ezuiz sticked every jammer he could find on the man’s body, disrupting the workings of his mechanical legs.

The man seemingly noticed Ezuiz look as he opened his eyes calmly.

Feeling the composed mind of his captive left the pirate slightly displeased. It seemed as if his opponent would mock him despite his disadvantageous situation.

Where was all the fear and despair he should have?

Somehow those eyes even remember Ezuiz of other unhappy memories. A face similar to his own appeared in his mind. It was also able to stay calm during any danger.

Ezuiz was reminded of the former Vulture Gang. Twenty years ago, when he and his brother were leading it together. His brave brother who sacrificed himself and was caught by the Luminous Army.

It was his brother Enuin who allowed him escape back then. Afterwards their crew stayed low key and only hovered around the fringes of conflicts. Only for this reason where they able to capture the middle-aged man. Their captive had lost a fight and was hiding far away from the battlefield where they coincidently discovered him.

As the most miserable years of his life appeared in Ezuiz mind, his anger quickly boiled up.

“What are you looking at?!”, roared the pirate captain.

His captive couldn’t stop a small smile from forming on his lips before calmly closing his eyes.

This small action was enough, however. Ezuiz suddenly snapped.

With seemingly a single step the pirate appeared before his captive.

His arm shot back and forth in neigh a second.

A loud impact sounded as the captain’s fist firmly hit the scarred and partially metallic face.

Low groaning escaped the captive’s mouth.

Another fist rushed forth and another tremor spread through the bridge.

Fortunately, Ezuiz managed to control himself just enough. Otherwise, the ship might have suffered some damage. Or even worse: he might injure the goods and minder the ransom.

Suddenly as the pirate captain was venting his anger a high-pitched voice reached his ear.

“Captain, a whingle whhip juht appeared.”

Ezuiz’ movement stocked for a second. A characteristic greed shone in his eyes.

Why did they still stay in this area after already hitting the checkpoint? Of course it was to gamble. In order to bolster their retirement fund. They had already tasted the sweet fruit of success. Surely, they would land another royal flush, right?

This was a common thought amongst pirates. If they really wanted to life a quiet life, how much money would they need? A single decent raid was enough to set them for life.

But who could extract themselves from the unbound life of a pirate after the easy money awoke the ugly greed buried deep down in many being’s hearts?

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Thus, a pirate who went on more than one raid was already deeply addicted. They may tell themselves that they would retire after the next big thing, but could they really go against their own nature?

Why then would the Vulture Gang still stay close to the battlefield? Why wouldn’t the search for a safe place and negotiate a ransom for their precious captive.

Naturally because their greed wasn’t satisfied. After all, they might just encounter a single, luxurious spaceship travelling through space.

Therefore, the new arrival instantly captured Ezuiz attention. Ignoring the hateful eyes boring into his back, the pirate captain turned to his lieutenant.

“Really? A single ship? Do another deep scan!”

“Yewh. Captain.”, answered the lieutenant with his heavy accent.

Lucky the Vulture Gang was already used to his way of speaking. In fact, most pirates didn’t have any trouble understanding this accent. After all the lieutenant belonged to the Hermis race. Their love for freedom often compelled them to become pirates.

A few seconds later the lieutenant’s high-pitched voice sounded again while a picture of a single spaceship appeared on a screen before them.

“No other whiph found. Your orderwh captain?”

Ezuiz chuckled slightly. As he observed the luxurious ship made from unknown material he couldn’t believe his own luck. Roaring laughter soon left his mouth as he commanded:

“All ships combat ready! We wait for them to approach!

Load the gravity well! Ready the tractor ray! Hangar one battle ready!”

Unfortunately, the captain didn’t notice his captive’s eyes which narrowed in contemplation.

Therefore, the captain’s orders soon echoed through the fleet. Excitement appeared on the pirate’s faces. A big fish just entered their net and now they only needed to drag it in.

Engineers busily loaded the flagship’s weapons as a motely crew of pirates gathered in hangar one. Ezuiz shook his head as he observed everything on the monitors in front of him.

His crew didn’t have any standardized weapons or discipline. They wore armors of all colors and weapons ranging from swords to gatling guns. Maybe he would buy some solid equipment after they struck it rich this time.

No, no. I wanted to retire, right…?

A few hours later the Vulture Gang was prepared. The spaceship slowly approached.

Ezuiz narrowed his eyes. Numbers rapidly flew around on the screen, calculating the perfect timing to throw the gravity well.

Suddenly they hit zero.

“FIRE!”, roared the captain.

A small black ball shot out from the flagship’s turret as their camouflage dropped.

It seemed so inconspicuous against the vast universe as it rapidly approached their target.

Just as the ship threatened to hit the ball, it already exploded.

A dark core suddenly formed. It emitted an immense gravitational pull towards its immediate surroundings. The unsuspecting spaceship couldn’t escape its grip. Its straight flight was interrupted as it couldn’t stop itself from circling the gravity well.

Roaring celebrations erupted amongst the pirates. Ezuiz was in euphoria.

Only their captive had a mocking smile on his face, as he had thought about something. Naturally he wasn’t stupid enough to warn the pirates. He was looking forward to a good show.

Not forgetting his duty, the captain quickly order:

“Tractor ray! Let’s go everyone. This will be our magnum opus!”

Some confusion could be seen on the surrounding officer’s faces. Who knew where the captain picked up those pretentious words. However, this didn’t matter tight now.

A giddy engineer pressed the familiar screen before him. A big chunk of the ships’ energy suddenly shot into another turret. Multiple mana stones were filled and depleted in seconds as shining runes activated.

An enormous amount of mana gathered from the surroundings as it received multiple different attributes.

The whole process took a few seconds but finally a green energy beam shot towards the solitary spaceship. The luxurious vehicle caught in a gravity well didn’t have any chance to struggle.

Soon it was forcefully pulled towards hangar 1. Ezuiz watched with relish as the foreign ship landed in his flagship. And then… nothing.

Silence and confusion reigned in the bridge. All their monitors had suddenly turned black. No lights shone anymore. The constant communication that should reach them turned silent.

A loud roar brought everyone back to reality:

“What happened?!”

“I… I don’t know captain. All our whytemwh are offline.”

“Then turn them back on! Hurry!”, Ezuiz punched a screen before him in anger before pointing at a few officers.

“You, you, and you! Get out of here! Investigate what’s happening!”

Everyone looked at the captain in fear. No one could deny his orders. After all the captain on a pirate ship wasn’t decided by peaceful voting.

Before the called-out officers could try to do their job however, a loud rumble ran through the flagship.

Even the strong pirates had to find something to hold onto.

And it didn’t stop.

Another rumble reached them. Followed by tremors and screams.

As fear slowly spread on the pirate’s faces the screams got closer and closer.

“Everyone! Prepare to fight!”

Ezuiz reminded everyone while he took out his own long sword.

Suddenly a moment of silence engulfed the ship.

Sweat began to appear on some officer’s heads.

Not because of nervousness. But because of the rapidly rising temperature in the room.

The pirates watched in horror as the reinforced metallic door slowly began to melt.

A few seconds later a hole big enough for a person was burned through the door. The remaining Vulture Gang waited with bated breaths.

Finally, a tall person domineeringly entered the bridge.

As soon as the person’s first armored limp appeared, Ezuiz roared out:

“All ranged combatants: Fire at will!”

Immediately all kinds of projectiles soared through the air. Enhanced bullets, magical arrows, fireballs, and windblades rained down on the heavy armor.

Despair soon found its way on the pirates faces though. They watched in disbelief as their attacks didn’t do any damage to this armor. Not even a scratch.

Why did we provoke such a monster?

This was the last thought on their minds.

As soon as the person entered their bridge runic lines lit up in front of her. Her fiery red hair danced wildly in the storm she created.

The pirates didn’t have a chance to defend themselves. Nothing could offer them any help. When someone tried to hold onto the ship, the storm around him just seemed to pick up in strength.

For a few seconds frantic screams sounded on the bridge. Pirates flew through the air. They crashed into the ship again and again and again. Until they finally shut up. Only a single middle-aged man remained on the bridge.

The Vulture Gang? Only a few mangled bodies remained of them.

Once more some pirates had gambled and lost.