*Timeskip/PoV switch*
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
[Telepathy]
I'm back from vacation, but D4 comes out today so I will be grinding it this weekend, normal schedule will resume Monday.
—————
The flight back to the station was as smooth as could be. I spent my time on the trip cleaning the bodies, at least from the barracks to the exit of the ship. Though explaining why I had a military destroyer class ship was fun to say the least, their reaction when I told them I took it over by myself was priceless. Though, they let me into a hanger near where Selene was and said they would send military personnel and doctors to check the slaves I saved.
Now, slavery in Boltarus is legal, but it's not really slavery, it's more employment. Those who owe debts can go into slavery to help pay off those debts, and once they are paid, they're free. It's heavily monitored so them being taken advantage of is rare, even nobles will be swiftly dealt with if they break those laws. These people, however, were kidnapped and forced into slavery, thus they will be sent home after the military makes sure they are alright.
They got checked pretty quickly and those who lived in the station, which were most of them, were sent back to their homes with a military soldier escorting them. Those who weren't, had trips with some shuttles back to wherever they needed to go scheduled and were given temporary residence by the military.
Before they left, the woman who I first saved, the one in the freezer and the one who took care of the little girl, came over to me with a grateful smile, "Thank you once again for saving us. My name is Heather, by the way. I decided to adopt Sofia(the little girl) since her parents were killed by the pirates. She wanted to see you before we went home."
I smiled back, "Okay, let me finish up here and I'll be there." I said back as I finished explaining what happened to the soldier in front of me who was holding a data pad. It was funny watching his face of disbelief as I explained how I took out seven pirate ships, disabled a destroyer class ship and single handedly wiped out over 50 armed pirates by myself in less than an hour. Though being a professional, he kept noting everything down. When I finished he said, "U-understood. I need to verify what you said, but compensation for the ship will be sent, and the mercenaries guild will be notified of you saving everyone." He quickly turned around and went into the ship.
I chuckled and made my way over to Amanda, who was giving her statement of events to another soldier with a data pad. I waited nearby, and once I saw the soldier walk away, I made my way over to her. "Ready to go?"
She turned around in slight surprise, but nodded. We made our way over to Heather and Sofia. As we got closer, the little girl saw me coming and ran over and jumped at me. I carefully caught her and set her down as she hugged me.
"Careful, what if I didn't catch you?" I said as I pat her head.
"Hehe, I knew big brother would catch me." She said back with a smile, leaning into my hand.
'I can't believe how cheerful she is.' I thought to myself in both disbelief and relief.
"Hah, alright, fair enough." I resigned. I looked up and saw Heather approaching with a smile.
"I'm not sure how long you plan on staying in Axis, but I'd like to invite you and your crew over for dinner, it's the least I can do." She said when she got to us.
Sofia pulled back from the hug and grabbed my hand, "Yes big brother! Please come!" She said while jumping up and down.
"Alright, alright. Send your address to me and I'll make sure we're there later." I said and gave my holopad number to Heather, who put it in and sent me the address.
Sofia cheered at my answer and Heather pulled her away lightly, "Come on Sofia, let Mr Andrew leave. You'll see him again tonight." She said gently.
The girl nodded and waved at me, "See you later big brother!"
"See you later." I said back.
"You're surprisingly good with kids." Amanda remarked behind me.
"Yeah, I took care of my little sister when we were younger since our parents worked all the time to make ends meet. Come on, I'll introduce you to Selene." I said with a shrug and walked out of the hanger towards the next one, where Selene had docked Mjolnir.
We arrived quickly, since it wasn't far, and upon seeing my ship, Amanda made a funny face. "How were you able to destroy all of those ships and take out a destroyer with such a small ship?"
I rolled my eyes, "For one, it's larger than a corvette, two surprise attack, three I'm not an obsidian ranked mercenary for nothing, and lastly this ship is as strong if not stronger than a dreadnaught class ship." I said in response.
Here eyes widened, "I didn't realize you were an obsidian rank, I though platinum maybe diamond ranked… Also a dreadnaught? Those things can destroy a Station by themselves, aren't you exaggerating it a bit?"
"Nope. I meant what I said." I said with a smug grin.
While we we're talking, the exit ramp to the Mjolnir lowered and Selene came out and looked at Amanda, before she looked at me with narrowed eyes. "What was that about not looking for another?" She asked me in mock anger, but I could see the playfulness in here eyes.
I shrugged and teased back, "What can I say, I couldn't help myself." We both stood there for a second and burst out laughing while Amanda looked at us in confusion.
Selene walked up and hugged me, before turning to the elf and holding her hand out, "Nice to meet you, I'm Selene, the operator of this ship, and this dolts girlfriend."
Amanda smiled back and shook hands with Selene, "Likewise, my name is Amanda Elric, I hope you'll take care of me from now on."
They talked between themselves and walked into the ship, ignoring me. 'Hah, women.' I chuckled to myself and followed behind them.