Chapter 1: First Fight
And that right there was how I got here, and like ROB said l lost most of my memories.
The only personal ones I still have are the ones about my last day alive, everything else gone except for Abigail, and the common sense of my old world.
"But dang, it's cold," I said. I used the touchscreen control panel to activate the main generator and bring life support systems back online. Warm air rushed into the cockpit. The system's status screen showed oxygen levels rising after dipping terrifyingly low. The temperature, which had started just below –5° Celsius, also ticked upward.
I was currently aboard the SS Krishna, a state-of-the-art machine that I arrived here in 17 years ago.
PS I'M 17 YEARS OLD.
It was a mighty fine ship, it combined the maneuverability of a small craft with the firepower of a heavy cruiser. My Krishna could even take on a battleship, and even the best shipwrights of the planet I landed on could not understand this ship.
"Phew, that was close. If I hadn't woken up, I would have suffocated."
Crisis (narrowly) averted.
The controls were simple enough to a noob, not to say much to a guy who was born with the knowledge of using every piece of equipment on this ship.
With the Galaxy Map confirming my current location,
Damn If it was not for auto pilot I'd have been in a whole other sector.
With that I headed to the hanger to check my cargo.
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My current funds stood at a whopping zero Ener.
I was Seriously broke.
What about all the money I saved up while growing up?
Well I used those funds to get enough supplies to begin my life as a mercenary,
I had once dreamed of living the pirate life like my hero Gol D Roger ( Once known as the king of all Pirates) but once I realized that we the death of the pirate king the unity and standing of pirates fell through the drain the dream took a 180° turn.
I still wanted to go on adventures through the cosmos in search of the one piece, but I decided to do that as a mercenary.
My heart dropped as I went to check the ship's cargo, my supplies were running low.
I only had a small amount of food and water stored among the ship's cargo.
This won't last long, I need to get to a colony and do a job,
Apart from the food, I had a small cache of flak ammunition and two spare energy packs, I'll need more of those too.
Looking at the safe holding the piles of rare materials that had been in the ship when I got to this world, I thought.
Maybe it's about time I sold them off.
Then as if it had been struck by an earthquake the ship shook, followed by read blaring lights and warnings ringing all over the ship.
'Warning! Warning! A vessel of unknown affiliation is scanning this craft'
Oh come on do we have to do this now, but wait I can cash in their bounties.
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Having now returned to the cockpit I sat in the pilot seat, and instructed the ships rudimentary AI to search all unincripted frequencies in the region
To see if there had been any communication attempts from the other side.
'Vessel of unknown affiliation has brought its weapons systems online,' the support AI droned.
Welp, it looked like the goddess of fortune smiles upon me today. I didn't have a bounty, so that ship had to be space pirates, and pirates always have bounties.
"Hey, bro. Whatcha doin' out here? Funny place to take a nap." a voice I didn't recognize crackled over the intercoms.
"Ha ha ha! Nothing in particular. Don't mind me," I replied.
"Heh heh heh. Don't be like that, bro. Here we are, meetin' each other by chance out in space. Say, how 'bout you let me have some of your cargo?
Then I might let ya off without any funny business."
" That won't do but I wouldn't say no to you giving me your head I need it to cash in your bounty" and it seemed my response got to him a bit cause he froze.
" Hahaha, Hahaha you really don't seem to get it, you're in serious trouble buddy" when he spoke the final part two more unidentified ships left faster-than-light travel with loud bangs. All three of them with their activated weapons systems prepared to fire at me.
The new ships showed up as models on my display. Their builds were a mess. The haphazard frames bore sloppily installed weapons that hardly looked ready for battle. Their hulls each had different cargo sizes. The frames, the weapons, everything about them was completely uncoordinated.
In stereotypical space pirate fashion, dents and scratches marred the ships.
"Oh it seems someone can't do shit without their friends" I really got under their skins with that one I cause they were now shouting at me.
" Yeah yeah I get you're all big scary pirates but, aren't you supposed to be trying to kill me with guns instead of words." I carefully raised the main generator output from normal to battle-ready. I took a breath. I might really have to kill fellow humans to get out of this but if I allowed that to stop me I would get nowhere in life, expecially the life I chose.
The pirates' ships were simple, balanced ships made for civilian use, nothing close to my Krishna. Worse, the models were several generations old and worn from use. Their main generator outputs, shield strength, and weapons were pitifully weak by comparison to mine. They probably neglected proper maintenance, leaving the ships' plating all out of shape.
As for me, my Krishna was built for hardcore military use making it the ideal personal battleship.
My shield and weapons strength far surpassed their shabby ships, and a military-grade sturdy hull protected me from their pathetic attacks. Quite frankly, defeat was inconceivable. This wasn't going to be a fight; it was going to be a one-sided hunt. A curb-stomp.
I scanned the unidentified, jet-black ships. Each oneheld somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 Ener.
I flipped my rising generator output to max level all at once and said, "So I'm gonna fight you guys. and just so you know, this will probably end with you guys dying. So don't blame me."
"That's big talk for someone facing three ships at once. You're gonna regret this, buddy!" The space pirate ships that were circling swiveled to aim at the me.
In that instant, I launched the Krishna forward full throttle.
"Wargh!"
"Wha?! He's fast!"
The sudden g-force threw me back against my seat, but I managed to use the touchscreen to get my weapons online. Four weapon arms equipped with heavy lasers extended from the Krishna, while the weapons bays on either side of the cockpit deployed two flak cannons. I activated the sub-boosters and banked into a 180-degree turn, maintaining my momentum as I pointed the four heavy lasers at one of the space pirates' ships.
"It changed shape!" one of the pirates screamed.
The continuous fire of my military-grade heavy pulse lasers easily tore through the ship's shield, vaporizing its hull with small explosions. The lasers kept on burning, cutting right through the cockpit.
"All that with one shot?!"
I hit the throttle again, chasing after a ship trying to escape. The drag of the g-force made my vision go dark. Almost soothed by the sensation, I once again activated my heavy lasers.
"N-no, I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die, I don't—" The volley of pulse lasers pierced mercilessly through his shield and stabbed the ship's main booster as the pirate begged for his life. The lasers must have burned right through to the main generator; the second ship exploded in a burst of fiery light.
"Dammiiit! I'll kill you!" The third pirate chose to fight instead of fly.
Maybe the sight of his friends' demise left him yearning for revenge. He readied his laser cannons. Once he started firing, avoiding the speed-of-light ammo would be next to impossible. I didn't have many options open to me.
All I could really do was dodge around erratically and hope that made it harder for him to target me.
I switched between rapid acceleration and sudden stops, trying to move the Krishna as unpredictably as possible.
The pirate finally landed a shot on the Krishna.
other, like a game of chicken. He got off a few more desperate shots, but his panic made him sloppy and sent his fire wide. Even when he managed to hit me, the Krishna's shield rendered the attacks harmless.
"I-It didn't work?!" The pirate growled with frustration and surprise.
The Krishna's shield blocked his laser completely, leaving me unscathed
I think that's enough.
I accelerated toward the pirate ship facing me. We dashed recklessly at each other, like a game of chicken. He got off a few more desperate shots, but his panic made him sloppy and sent his fire wide. Even when he managed to hit me, the Krishna's shield rendered the attacks harmless.
"S-stop! Mommy—!" oh come on now that's just pathetic.
I dodged the space pirate's ship an instant before we would have collided, firing flak at him as I veered away. The high-speed shots saturated his shield, tore through it, and blasted through the hull of his ship. By the time the flak burst free, his ship looked more like metallic Swiss cheese than any kind of space craft.
"Hargh! Haah, haah…" I banked through a tight turn, wheeling around to watch the ship explode. My breath rasped through the cockpit. I returned the generator output to normal levels and, finally, took the weapons system offline.