Weaving through an asteroid field with a large ship is no easy feat—especially if you don't want to hit any space rocks along the way. Of course, with a battleship of my size, smaller asteroids wouldn't do much damage. Technically, I could just plow through in a straight line, only swerving if a large rock—something so big that the shields couldn't deflect it—is blocking the path.
"Another one… what a waste," I muttered, my gaze flicking to a nearby asteroid.
Scattered among the lifeless gray rocks were asteroids exuding faintly colored fog—markers of valuable materials hidden within. Green meant abundant radioactive minerals, orange indicated high iron content and dirty yellow signified sulfur deposits.
The green ones especially caught my attention. Radioactive materials were rare and highly valuable, unlike the more common iron and sulfur deposits. Passing by two giant green-coated rocks without mining them felt like throwing credits into a black hole.
"Too bad I don't have any mining corvettes or frigates on board," I sighed.
Technically, I could use the ion turrets to blast the rocks apart, but it would be wildly inefficient—a case of spending a dollar to earn a dime. Worse, the turrets weren't powerful enough to quickly break apart a 500-meter-diameter asteroid. And right now, time wasn't on my side.
The distance between me and the player's ship was steadily shrinking. With both of us traveling in opposite directions and my continuous acceleration, we were set to cross paths in about 16 hours. Using my boosters nonstop had shaved that down to around 13 hours, but it also meant I couldn't afford any detours or "side quests" like mining.
Twelve hours into the journey, the gap between us had closed to 0.05 AU—the effective range of standard ship radars. If a ship enters your radar range, it is precursory to check them out first, just to be safe. And right on cue, Percy alerted me to a scan signal.
[Scan detected. Initiating standard ID and registration check.]
I waited, watching the screen as the scan was completed. Moments later, silence returned to the bridge.
"That's it?" I muttered.
I had half-expected a radio message—a greeting or at least an acknowledgment. But there was nothing. The player's personality often depended on the person controlling them, and I didn't know the "real" player behind that ship. Maybe they were snobby. Or just in a rush.
Just as I debated hailing them myself, something on the radar caught my attention. A flicker—familiar and ominous. Without delay, I commanded Percy what to do.
"Percy, enhance scanning power at the cost of range. I think pirates are nearby."
[Command received. Adjusting scan parameters… Scan complete. Displaying results.]
The radar screen updated, and my blood ran cold. In the center was my battleship, the Range Falcon, represented by a blue dot. Ahead of me was the player's ship, the Hunter-class frigate, marked as a white dot. But surrounding it were a staggering number of red dots!
"Damn. That's a lot…"
A quick count revealed at least fifty hostiles—an enormous pirate fleet. Worse, the player was right in the middle of them. At my current speed of 2,000 km/s, it would take me about an hour to reach them!
To save him, the only possible option was…
"Percy, connect me to that frigate. If video isn't possible, audio alone will do."
[Command received. Retrieving ship's frequency... Connecting... Success.]
The moment the connection established, I slammed my palms onto the armrests of the chair, standing up with a determined expression.
"Sorry for the sudden contact. This is Arthu—I mean, Gerard Astoria, the captain of the ship you just scanned." I cleared my throat, mentally cringing at the slip-up—almost saying my real name. "I need you to listen to me carefully and stay calm. My radar scan shows you're surrounded by at least 50 pirate ships. If you don't act now, well… you can imagine what happens next."
I paused deliberately, letting the gravity of my words sink in.
"Anyway, head straight for me at full speed. I'll help you drive those pirates away."
{...}
No response. The silence on the other end felt heavier with every passing second. Had Percy failed to connect me? No, the display clearly read "online." Were they stunned? Mute? Or maybe they just didn't trust me? I had no way of knowing.
But then, as if to answer my doubts, the radar showed the Hunter frigate adjusting course and accelerating toward the Range Falcon. It weaved through the unprepared pirate formation with surprising precision.
On my radar, the pirate ships sprang to life. All 50 of them began pursuit, engines flaring as they closed in on the player's frigate.
"That's right, come to papa!" I muttered, my heart racing with excitement.
In my current state, however, I was just a massive, lumbering target—a juicy piece of meat for those pirates to sink their teeth into—they won't see me as a threat. 'But not for long!'
Ensuring the path ahead was clear of large asteroids, I bolted out of the bridge to prepare.
Twenty sweat-soaked minutes later, I returned, wiping the sweat off my brow with the back of my hand. The radar told me all I needed to know: the pirates were closing in fast, their distance from the Hunter frigate shrinking by the second. Thankfully, they were still outside attack range, so no damage had been dealt—yet.
"About 10 minutes away… right?" I muttered to myself before raising my voice. "Percy! Activate the new weapon I just installed!"
[Command received. Identifying… Scanning… Verifying compatibility… Installing drivers… Connecting to control systems...]
The process, while straightforward, felt agonizingly slow. Each second ticked by like an eternity. On average, it would take at least three minutes to complete. Thankfully, the pirates were still far enough away to buy me some time.
As predicted, exactly three minutes later, Percy's voice chimed in.
[Installation complete. New Turret Set on slot 12 at the bow of the ship—Lumina MK2 Proton Ray. You can now use it as a weapon.]
"Perfect! Quickly, load it up!" I said, my voice brimming with anticipation.
[Command received. Arming weapons... Complete. All weapons are online and ready to fire.]
Without hesitation, I tinkered with the control panel, switching the manual targeting system to focus solely on the Proton Ray. Using the radar data—bearing, altitude, speed, and size—I began fine-tuning my aim with surgical precision. The enemy wasn't visible on the monitors yet, so this was less calculation and more intuition. This wasn't something I could leave to Percy's AI.
After painstakingly adjusting the angle, I pulled the trigger. The massive turret at the ship's bow—a prize from the previous pirate encounter—began to hum with energy. One second, two, five! The saturation indicator hit the maximum, and a piercing beam of white light erupted from the barrel, cutting through everything in its path—asteroids included.
One of the advantages of laser weapons like this was their effective "infinite range." As long as the beam stayed focused and nothing obstructed it—like debris or dense particles—it would travel until it hit something. The Proton Ray, in particular, boasted incredible armor-piercing capabilities, making it a weapon of choice for high-stakes PvP engagements.
I watched the beam slice through the void before the faint glimmer of an explosion lit up in the distance—two of them. Red fireworks flickered on my radar as two enemy signals vanished.
"Bull's-eye!" I grinned, adrenaline surging through my veins.
Wasting no time, I adjusted my aim. Years of experience playing TSO kicked in as I recalibrated the angle—two micrometers left, one micrometer down—and fired again.
As the Proton Ray discharged another blinding beam, the turret entered its cooldown cycle, a design feature that allowed for continuous operation without overheating. That meant a new shot every seven seconds—a terrifyingly effective rate for picking off enemies one by one!
With the enemy fleet still over five minutes away, I was on track to decimate their numbers before they even entered visual range. But, of course, things never go that smoothly. As the number of targets dwindled, hitting them became trickier. Many of my early kills had been "lucky shots" that destroyed nearby ships as collateral damage instead of the original target.
Still, the results were undeniable.
"Twenty left," I muttered. "This is becoming doable!"
A dogfight against that many would be manageable, especially with my current firepower!
I kept firing, determined to whittle their forces even further. At one minute out, the Range Falcon's external cameras finally captured the pirates—tiny ships darting through the asteroid belt at breakneck speed, weaving through the chaos.
I opened the transceiver again, hailing the player's frigate.
"You're within visual range now. Start decelerating. I've opened the dock shutters—fly straight in as soon as you reach me. I'll handle the rest."
{...}
No response, just like before. Could they actually hear me, or was their communication system fried? Either way, I had no time to dwell on it.
With the gap closing, my accuracy improved. Real-time adjustments let me track the agile pirate ships more effectively, and the Proton Ray tore through them like paper. In the final minute of their approach, I managed to take out five more ships, reducing the enemy fleet to just fifteen.
"...Oops," I muttered as the player's ship unexpectedly veered into the Proton Ray's line of fire.
A section of its wing was sliced clean off, sparks flying as the damaged frigate wobbled out of control. It careened through space like a drunkard trying—and failing—to stay upright.
"Well, he's close enough now. Even with a busted wing thruster, docking shouldn't be an issue."
That setback aside, it was time to face the real challenge!