Luring Tiger

"Altea, give me a report on the ship condition and compare it to this era technology, I want a detailed report of our current battle asset and our readiness to confront hostile," Ed asked the Alpha-Charlie main AI.

"Order received Captain, please wait a few minutes for a detailed report," the AI replied.

Ed did not depend solely on the AI analysis since its allegiance was to the Daemo race instead of himself. He had another way to confirm the data.

"System, tell me about this ship's condition and its combat readiness," he commanded his system in secret.

'Ship statistics and combat potential could be in the profile menu... Beep...' the System replied.

"Give me the report on it," He said in annoyance.

'Host doesn't have enough authority to use this command, please finish your mission to reach higher rank... Beep...' The system declined him.

"Fucking annoying AI!!! Can't they just be an obedient AI?!" he cursed in his heart.

With a thought, he opened his profile screen to find changes in his profile data.

'Host Name: Edward'

'Occupation: Alien Pirate'

'Rank: Idiot Pirate'

'Combat Ship: Alpha-Charlie (Alien Light Carrier) '

'Combat Force:-'

'Description: Genetically modified pirate with no crew.'

"What the fuck with this idiot pirate rank," he grumbled when he saw that his rank did not change.

'Answering to Idiot Host, pirate rank are divided into Pirate Captain, Pirate Commodore, Pirate Admiral, Pirate Fleet Admiral, Pirate Lord, Pirate King, and Pirate Emperor... Currently, Host don't qualify for any rank so above thus designated with Idiot Pirate rank'

'To get into higher rank, the host needs to finish a designated number of missions and qualify some other criteria... Beep...' the robotic AI explained.

Ed gritted his teeth to stop himself from cursing and asked, "What is the requirement of being a Pirate Captain?" he asked.

'To be a pirate captain, Host needs at least ten crew working under him and finish at least one mission... Beep'

"Ugh... I will think about it later," he groaned as he continued on his first goal in opening his profile screen.

He focused on the combat ship tab and detailed data of Alpha-Charlie appeared in front of him.

'Unit Name: Alpha-Charlie'

'Ship Class: Light Carrier'

'Condition: 51%'

'Weapon System: Daemo XI Gauss Rifle, Standard Particle-Beam'

'Combat Asset: Holocaust C-2'

Just as he tries to process the information on the system, Altea already finished compiling his requested report.

"The report has been compiled Captain, I have transferred the data to your smartwatch," The AI reported.

A table raised up from the floor with a wristband on top of it, Ed reaches out and puts it on his hand, with a simple touch holographic report appeared in front of him.

"Altea, give me a brief summary of the report," he commanded, luckily the ship's AI complied with his request, unlike a certain system AI.

"According to our scan of the whole ship, we would need a few days of repair before Alpha-Charly could leave the start system, but we would need to gather materials for the repair," it started.

"The ship's main weapon system currently could only aim at target right in front of Alpha-Charlie, it could be said that our only useable combat asset is the Holocaust C-2,"

"After comparing our technology with the technology of your passenger ship, it is safe to assume that Alpha-Charlie could be compared with a grade-C light carrier of the current era." It explained.

"Grade-C? That's better than I expected," He read the data in astonishment.

Alpha-Charlie was almost 500 years old starship, it could be said that its technology was really old and outdated.

According to Ed's memory, starship and mecha are divided into four grades, the best technology that Galactic Alliance and its founding members use was Grade-S, the other three were Grade-A, Grade-B, and Grade-C.

Every country and nation in the galactic era was also divided into these ranks according to their technology level and resources they have.

"Alpha-Charlie was the best Grade-S Light Carrier before it met the accident, it might be able to get into Grade-B category if we replace some material and update the software on par with this era's standard," it explained.

"Can we repair the ship by cannibalizing the passenger ship?" he asked the AI.

"Your ship doesn't have enough rare material that we need to repair our propulsion system. If you want to fully repair the ship, then we would need more material," Altea reported.

"hmm... we could not get to another location to mine for material, I guess we need to let the material come to us," he mumbled.

"Eh? You are ordering a material delivery?" Aya looked at him in astonishment.

"Of course not, we are going to lure the tiger out of the mountain," he said with a grin.

"What do you mean luring tiger?" the girl looked at him in confusion.

"It's the fifteenth stratagem of the art of war, basically we are going to lure the mercenary that is after us to fight on our terms rather than fighting them on their terms." He explained.

"You are going to fight the mercenary?" she got alarmed.

"Of course, where else would we get the material to repair the ship if not from this delivery man?" he said with a smile as he patted her head.

"For now, help me and convince Dea to broadcast our location to the mercenary, try established communication with them and tell them you somehow capture me and ask them to pick you up, our plan depends on how much you can make them believe you," he told the girl while looking in her eyes.

She got stunned from his seriousness. After some hesitation, she nodded at him in resolution.

Once the girl went back to convince her friend, Ed turned to the AI, "Altea, give me a manual for Holocaust C-2."

The original Ed always wanted a better life. He had planned to be a pirate since he was younger to escape the poor planet such as Bola III.

He had trained to pilot mecha using some old simulator pod he salvaged in the junkyard. Although it was not as good as formal pilot training, Ed did not have any better choice.

"I should be able to use the Holocaust to some extent," he thought.

"You can directly go to the simulation room for quick training, Captain. I will program the fastest training program so you get up to speed with the Holocaust operating system," Altea said as it directs him toward the simulation room.

It took him an hour to finish the training simulation. He could not call himself an expert but at least he could hold himself somehow.

The C-2 was a melee type medium mecha. Its armor system was robust enough to take some beating while the holocaust engine made it able to repair itself in the middle of battle.

It was armed with a giant scythe for the main weapon and shrapnel projector mounted on both arms for medium-range combat and intercepting missiles.

"With this, I should be able to catch the mercenaries by surprise," he thought.

Once he got out of the simulator, he noticed a new message on his smartwatch. When he checked it out, it was from Aya, she somehow convinced Dea to follow his plan and explained what happened in the alien ship.

"Let me check to be sure," he thought as he opened his mission screen.

'Aya's favorability: 25 (Trust)'

'Mental Ailment: Stockholm, Active Persuasion (Negative)'

'Dea's Favorability: -50 (Distrust)'

'Mental Ailment: Active Persuasion (Positive)'

"I should monitor her since she doesn't trust me yet," he thought when he remembered about the mental ailment thing.

"System, What is this mental ailment?" he asked the system.

'Mental ailments are mental conditions that affect the harem member, Shock and Trauma lower their mental defense, made them prone to manipulation; doubt lower their favorability over time, Stockholm made the favorability could not get lower than trust; Active Persuasion is someone actively trying to change their favorability... Beep' the AI replied.

"They are trying to change each other's perspective about me, huh? Luckily Aya's favorability could not get any lower," he mused.

Ed noticed two new missions in the mission tab, the first one was to capture or destroy the mercenary, and the second one was to finish emergency plan omega.

"hmm... It seems the system would give a new mission according to my action," he thought.

Both mission's rewards were question marks, it seems that he would need to complete it before getting his reward.

Just as he mussed, an alarm ring on his smartwatch, and Altea's voice could be heard in the room.

"Captain, Energy signature detected, two frigates are on course toward Alpha Charlie," the AI reported.

"Estimate their arrival time and scan their ship for any weapon system and Mecha, I want them to think this ship is a wreck, if required, turn the engine into hibernation mode," he commanded as he walked toward the hangar to prepare on his first deployment.

"They will get into firing distance in 45 minutes and would reach Alpha-Charlie in another 3 minutes," It reported.