*Timeskip/PoV switch*
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
[Telepathy]
Sorry for the lack of chapters. I'm on vacation for the next two weeks, I'll still upload but it will be inconsistent. Uploads will be back to normal after.
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"So let me get this straight, you snuck away from the palace and hired a small group of iron ranked mercenaries to bring you to Axis, when you got here, your ship was attacked by these pirates and you were captured, correct?" I asked the elf girl next to me.
She nodded, "Yes, though I believe these aren't pirates, but a small detachment from the Novarius Empire disguised as pirates."
"I guess I could see that, he didn't really seem weak enough to be an exile, and his lack of tattoos would suggest he was young… Why would the be this far away from the frontlines? Unless their whole plan was scouting and resource disruption." I thought out loud.
"On another note, I am curious, why did you come here of all places? Axis is in the center of the Boltsrus empire, and while I understand Maegrin has a non-aggression and trade agreement with Boltarus, that doesn't explain why one of their princesses would come here?"
She looked at me for a minute and sighed, "Because I hate being caged up in the palace. I'm the youngest, so I have zero chance of inheriting the throne without a bloodbath, which I have no care for anyways, and I've always liked exploring more. My parents wouldn't never let me become a mercenary though, and if I joined the army I would be sitting in an office all day, which I have no interest in either, so I snuck away, only telling them I left and not to look for me."
I rolled my eyes, 'Cliche.' "Regret it yet?" I asked back sarcastically.
Surprisingly she responded firmly, "Not at all. Even nearly being sold or brought into slavery, I don't regret it in the slightest. Actually I have a request."
'At least she didn't regret it, that's admirable at least.' I thought while responding, "And what would that be?"
"Let me join your crew…" she asked, looking dead at me.
I stopped and looked dead into her eyes, "No offense, but why should I?"
"For one, I'm good at business and finances. Most mercenaries are not so great at that. Secondly, since I'm from a royal family, I've learned diplomacy since I could read and speak. Lastly, I'm also an extremely good strategist, and no offense back, while you're a great fighter, you pretty much brute forced this entire situation from what I can tell, and that's just looking at the bodies and surroundings." She responded without missing a beat… almost like she was waiting for that question.
I couldn't really argue her points though, I never really cared about my money, since I was filthy rich, and diplomatically I'm alright, but she's right she's probably much better. As for the fight, while I did brute force it, it wasn't necessarily because I couldn't come up with a better strategy, it was more I was trying to end it as quickly as possible to make sure nothing else was happening to any of the other slaves. I had intended to do it more clean than it happened. 'Whatever, I'll give her a shot, I was thinking of expanding the crew anyways, a dedicated strategist couldn't hurt. Need be I take her back to her family if things don't work out.'
"Alright, fine. I'll let you join as a temporary member and we will go from there. However, if it becomes too much for you, I plan on taking you back to your family. I don't want a bounty on my head for letting you get hurt just leaving you somewhere. Deal?" I told her.
Her eyes lit up in excitement, "Deal!"
I sighed and we made our way to the barracks in silence. I opened the lock and the door slid open revealing 17 slaves, not including Amanda, of various ages and genders sitting and waiting for whatever came next. Hearing the door, most of the stood up and looked at me in vigilance. Once they recognized my armor, they relaxed and sat back down, relieved.
"This should be everyone. The pirates have all been dealt with. As for all of you, I ask you stay here until we arrive at the station, where you'll be taken to the hospital for a checkup. After that, the army should send you all home, sound good?" I told them, cheers and sobs erupting around the room. They had lost hope, but now they could go back to their families and lives. I started first by disabling and removing the slave collars from everyone's necks, which was harder that I thought, as these collars were modified with explosives.
Usually, slave collars have two functions: A protect the slaves, or B stop the slaves. In function A, should the slave be in danger, it can project a personal holo shield around the slave. It isn't particularly strong, but it's better than nothing. Function B however, will cause an electric shock that temporarily paralyzes the slave should the do something they aren't supposed to, like attacking a person or removing the collar. These collars however, were rigged to cause a small explosion in the back of the neck, killing or crippling those wearing it, should the slave do something they aren't supposed to.
Once I finished taking all the collars off, I prepared to walk out of the room when I noticed a, now properly dressed, little girl running at me. I smiled lightly and crouched down. She didn't waste a second before jumping into me and hugging me tightly, "Thank you for saving me big brother." My smiled widened and I pat her head in return. "I've got to go get us back to the station, why don't you go spend time with big sister over there." I told the little girl, directing her to Amanda. She nodded rapidly and ran off to speak with the elf, who shot me an understanding look as she entertained the girl.
I placed my mask back on and connected a transmission to Mjolnir. "Ok Selene. Ship is clear and under our control, disable the disruption spikes and we can head towards the station."
A second later I heard, "Got it, pulling the boarding pod back on and disabling the spikes." She repeated as the power fully kicked back on in the ship. It didn't take long to make it to the cockpit and set a path towards the station. Though I did have to move the Kishari's corpse into the hallway at some point. 'Time to turn this job in and relax. Also gotta be careful about my Psionic training since we will have an extra crew member. At least for now…'