Chapter 147: Give the Pirates Some Strength

Cosmic standard time, November 2, 588 New Calendar, the asteroid belt has not yet been named.

This asteroid belt is about 0.4 AU in length and is registered as UD74290 in the game.

It is speculated that it was formed by the disintegration of a low-mass planet that originally existed in this galaxy.

The entire asteroid belt has a large number of asteroids with a mass of hundreds of millions of tons, as well as countless secondary asteroids, and is rich in various heavy metals such as platinum, nickel, iron, palladium, rhodium, and ice.

Because it is far away from the major spheres of influence, the probability of spawning pirates is relatively low, and there are super-large ice bodies that can replenish important water, so this asteroid belt is also the first stop for many novice players to earn their first pot of gold and move towards deep space.

It is precisely because there are too many novice players that a large number of asteroids have been hollowed out after years of mining, and it looks like cheese in cartoons.

Therefore, it is also nicknamed "Jerry's Paradise" by players.

But now, this place has nothing to do with "Jerry's Paradise".

There are no small mining ships shuttling around like little bees, nor are there large star-crushing ships like giant whales in the sea of ​​stars.

There are no holes dug into the huge asteroids.

Everything seems to be the same as it has been for hundreds of thousands of years, nothing has changed.

Of course, it just seems.

Because in the area named D211 in the game, an asteroid with a long axis of 2.5 kilometers and a short axis of 1.2 kilometers is "clinging" to an object that is not naturally formed.

It is a human mining operation base, which is currently in working condition and fixed on the asteroid, serving as an ore refining component, berthing area, control room and personnel rest cabin.

Near this asteroid, two human-style ships are relatively stationary with the asteroid.

From the appearance, these two ships are armed merchant ships converted from civilian ships.

There are traces of crude transformation and repair on their hulls, and various "patches" are also irregular.

The only thing in common is the huge white skull painted on the bow.

This also shows the identity of these two armed merchant ships - interstellar pirates.

This ancient profession has accompanied mankind through the entire Age of Exploration and witnessed mankind's galloping and fighting on the ocean.

Although, as mankind's control over the ocean has become stronger and stronger, this extremely risky profession has once degenerated from sailing warships to small sampans, and even almost disappeared.

But after entering the interstellar era, the situation has changed again.

The vast universe makes it almost impossible for humans to completely control it, and it also gives hunting merchant ships and evading pursuit more room for operation and more possibilities.

The vast territory and population distribution of mankind, the complex social ecology, and class and social contradictions have also spawned a large number of desperate people.

In addition, with the popularization of civilian ships in the market, the increasingly mature ship modification business, and the legal or illegal influx of various weapons into the private sector, a new generation of armed merchant ships has emerged.

And if you are lucky, the income from robbing a merchant ship or a star cruise ship can be worth decades of hard work.

Such a "return on investment" makes those desperate people who have no place to stay in society "invest" their lives in this traditional industry regardless of everything.

It also makes the ancient profession of pirates appear again.

But this time, it has to be preceded by the word "interstellar".

It is precisely because of the emergence of interstellar pirates that running cargo in the universe has become a dangerous thing again.

For civilian ships not equipped with jump drives, the route between the spaceport and the jump drive array in deep space is dangerous.

And for civilian ships equipped with jump drives, it is also dangerous not in the process of space jump.

Although the routes that can be saved by gravity slingshots in each galaxy are fixed, the territory controlled by humans is now large.

Even if the navies of major forces are dispatched in full force, they cannot protect all routes.

And the extremely low cost-effectiveness also leads to the official escort fleet only guarding the routes in the core galaxy.

In secondary galaxies like Adam was ambushed by Amber and others, only patrol fleets will appear.

For galaxies that are a little worse, and galaxies on the edge, the captains can only rely on their own abilities.

Therefore, the officials of various forces have also opened up weapon modification licenses for civilian ships for self-defense during long-distance voyages.

PMCs have also taken orders for long-distance escort.

But unfortunately, such measures have instead spawned many "part-time pirates".

On weekdays, they run normal routes, just like other cargo ships.

But if there is a great opportunity in front of them, they don't mind doing a job and making some extra money.

The two brothers Eric, who hijacked the Timler Mining Company's base of operations, started out as "part-time pirates".

After doing a few jobs, they found that although this industry is risky, it makes money quickly and is much more efficient than running freight.

So the two of them were determined and simply turned to "full-time".

This lasted for five years.

The two brothers also changed from honest cargo captains at the beginning to pirate leaders with blood on their hands now.

Although at the beginning, the Eric brothers just wanted to save enough money and then live a good life in the second half of their lives.

But how can money be saved enough?

The more money you have, the more you will want more money.

What's more, there are some people in this world whose efficiency in 'stealing money' from others is infinitely higher than that of pirates.

The luxurious interstellar hotels and super-large luxury casinos opened by these people, as well as the hot-bodied and scantily clad girls inside, snatched the unwarmed banknotes away from the hands of the Eric brothers and their men at a faster speed.

As a result, these two people not only saved money, but also increased the frequency of attacking civilian ships.

Only in this way can they satisfy their growing desires and the fantasy of making a comeback in the casino.

But if you want to intercept merchant ships in the Mangmang universe, it is actually a job that depends on luck.

In a sense, it can be regarded as ‘depending on the sky’.

Unfortunately, perhaps because they had too many lives on their hands, the two brothers' luck became worse and worse.

After not opening for two consecutive months, not only did they have no money to go to the Gold Sales Cave, they even began to run out of basic supplies needed to navigate the universe.

Under this situation, the two brothers were forced to try some new tracks in the field of interstellar pirates.

I don’t know whether the luck of these two people was good or bad, but they finally found the base of operations of Timler Mining Company.

And there was no escort of armed ships.

After easily dismantling the fixed defenses of the operating base, the pirates captured the operating base.

Subsequently, the two brothers impatiently sent a blackmail message to Timler Mining Company based on the methods they learned through movies and "industry exchanges".

What they want is very little, precious metals equivalent to 20 million imperial gold dragons.

They will leave after confirming receipt, otherwise they will kill the more than 100 workers they hijacked.

The two brothers thought very simply. If they sell this kind of precious metal with the attribute of "stolen goods" through the black market, they will basically discount it by 50%.

The price of 20 million for more than 100 people plus this operational base and three small mining ships was already a 'friendly price' given by the two of them.

If they succeed, they will get rid of the precious metals as quickly as possible, and then go out with 10 million imperial gold dragons.

But something happened that the two brothers couldn't even figure out.

The information was sent out for more than ten days, and Marvin Eric, the eldest brother in the middle, even sent another one because he was worried that the other party had not received the information.

The result is still nothing, and I haven't been able to wait for a reply.

If the various supplies in the operation base were not sufficient, their brothers might have become the first pirates in history to give up extortion due to insufficient supplies.

"Damn it, why didn't you reply when you've obviously read the message?"

Marvin Eric, who was sitting in the main seat of the main control room, was chewing on a toothpaste-shaped ration in puzzlement.

And his younger brother, John Eric, was also sullen.

He felt that he and his eldest brother were in the most embarrassing moment since joining the industry.

This kind of operating base in the deep space asteroid belt would not be a good thing even if it has supplies.

The workers' daily food consists of toothpaste-like rations with different flavorings and drinking water produced by the circulation device.

The only entertainment items are pre-downloaded games, holographic movies and pornographic movies.

Forget about the asteroid belts in remote areas like the mobile red-light districts filled with prostitutes.

Workers can only entertain themselves to pass the boring time during rotation breaks.

"Brother, do you think it's because this mining company can't afford so much money? Or it doesn't have precious metals worth 20 million Imperial Golden Dragons on hand? Do you think we should consider giving them a lower price?"

"Snapped!"

Before John could finish speaking, the eldest brother Marvin was so angry that he threw the uneaten ration in his face.

"Listen to yourself, do you sound like a pirate?!"

Feeling annoyed, Marvin kicked his brother again.

The base of operations did not have artificial gravity, and this kick also kicked John far away.

But his brother remained unyielding, slowly floated over and said cautiously:

"Brother, you see, we have been here for so long, and the other party is still unwilling to pay the ransom. It is not an option if this continues. The mood of the brothers is getting lower day by day."

This time, Marvin did not kick his brother out because he knew that his brother, who had been smart since childhood, was right.

These pirates under his command are not very good. If they continue to waste like this, who knows if they will come up with a "lower to defeat the upper"?

Seeing that his elder brother didn't kick him away again, John knew that he had been persuaded by him, so he whispered into his ear:

"We can consider packing up the entire operation base and workers, and then go to the black market to find someone to crack the security system and positioning device. In this way, whether it is selling one of those slave mines or opening a slave mine ourselves,... It’s a rewarding trip.”

Marvin was indeed moved.

Because this operational base has a universal interface, it can be mounted on the ship's universal slide rail, and it can indeed be 'packed and taken away'.

And as his brother said, changing careers to open a slave mine is indeed a choice that many pirates will make if they don't want to live a life of licking blood from the edge of a knife.

As long as you have the name of a mining company, those businessmen who are active in the mineral trading market will not care whether your ore is mined by employees or slaves.

Although doing this job is not as big as being a pirate, you can at least achieve a steady stream of success.

If you are lucky enough to find a high-quality asteroid, you can mine it for three to five years without any problem.

Just as the two brothers were discussing the specific operation method of this plan, a destroyer in a covert operation state was approaching at a constant speed at a position of 32,651 kilometers from the asteroid where the operation base was located.

"Leah, report the current situation."

"Reporting to the acting captain, the current relative speed to the target is 20.8 kilometers per second, and it is expected to enter the target warning circle in 18 minutes and 9 seconds.

Two unidentified ships were found near the target location, relatively stationary to the target. Judging from the infrared characteristics, there is an 85% chance that they are armed merchant ships modified from two Nerus-class cargo ships."

The pleasant voice of the shipboard controller broadcast the current information one by one.

As the first ten-year veteran fed by Lilith using the 'Advanced Combat Video', it inherited the name 'Leah' that Lilith used when she disguised herself as a battleship controller personality.

Randall, who was originally the Tactical Operations Officer (TAO) of the Hermes, was currently sitting on the captain's seat as the acting captain, listening to Leah's report.

You ask where Amber, the captain, is?

Naturally, the HCP, which has completed preparations, is making final preparations before the attack.

It’s really not that Amber wants to be a hands-off shopkeeper, or wants to attack as an HCP.

He originally planned to command the battleship to conduct a high-speed assault and kill the pirates' armed merchant ships before they could react.

Then let the Marines jump to the base of operations and start space CQB.

But when he arrived at the location, he realized that the job was not that simple.

The asteroid that is the target may be located at a location where a larger asteroid split after an impact. Therefore, the asteroid is relatively densely distributed and the surrounding area is not too empty.

A large number of asteroids of the same level or secondary level are densely distributed in this area at intervals of tens to hundreds of kilometers.

And Brother Eric has been a pirate for so many years, and he is not just doing it for a living.

For this vote, they released many self-powered air mines disguised as asteroid fragments nearby.

The containers mounted on one of the two armed merchant ships were all filled with these things.

These annoying gadgets make the originally narrow route more difficult to pass, and it is also difficult for Amber and the others to mark all the air mines.

This caused the high-speed raid plan to go to waste before it even started.

But Amber was not frustrated at all, and immediately came up with a second battle plan.

Let the Hermes maintain a certain relative speed and reach a position of 10,000 kilometers.

This is also the warning range of the detection units of most civilian ships and operational bases.

At this distance, Hermes' two heavy particle cannons fire alternately, performing a non-converging shot and a standard shot.

In the non-convergent shooting mode, the heavy metal particle jet that loses the directional magnetic field constraints will spread out after leaving the acceleration orbit, covering a large area.

Although it is basically unable to cause damage to ships, it is completely sufficient if it is just to detonate or destroy air mines.

The second standard shot will clear a clean path for Amber.

At the same time, Amber, who had completed ejection before the bombardment, would rush in directly along this route with maximum thrust.

At the same time, an assault boat full of Marines will rush over behind them.

It is different from the more violent assault cabins used before.

The assault boat is a small transport boat with thicker armor, specially used for gang-hopping against targets that are not suitable for the assault cabin.

As a standard configuration of the Dragoon destroyer, this assault boat is usually docked in the garage near the bottom tank.

As long as the HCP and assault boats can be sent to a location near the operational base, the next job will be easy.

To sum up, this HCP raid was relatively difficult and dangerous.

After all, even after being shot by a heavy particle cannon, there is no guarantee that the route will be completely clean.

So in the end, Amber took over the task of driving the HCP with a heavy face.

"Let's give these pirates some strength!"

He just said these words and then left the bridge.

"This guy must be very happy!"

Randall, who was forced to become the acting captain and sat on the captain's seat, said helplessly.

"It must be. Didn't you see that he could hardly control the corners of his mouth just now?"

Sitting on the CIC command seat, Isabel, who was responsible for assisting the tactical operations officer and coordinating the entire CIC operation, curled her lips. She knew very well what Amber was thinking.

"Forget it, the burden of running the company has been on his shoulders recently, let's just let this guy be happy."

Randall shook his head, and then his tone changed.

"The entire ship enters level one combat status,"