chapter 51 Pirate hunt.
After Star of Vengeance entered Coalition space they were safe; the nobles did not have the means to target them in this part of space.
The only problem was the border guard but it turned out that after Tommy explained the situation to the first patrol they encountered, the captain of the coalition ship contacted the authorities and they got special clearance to dock with a commercial station.
They were escorted to the station and once they docked Tommy had to go to the station master's office.
-Welcome captain.
The elderly man greeted him.
-Hello station master.
Tommy reciprocated his greeting.
-I Heard your story from the border guards so let's get straight to business.
You want to get asylum for your crew, is that correct?
-Yes but not all of us want to stay.
-Then how many people want to apply for asylum?
-52 people want to stay here, the rest want to go with me.
-Do you know if they have committed any crimes in the past?
-No they didn't,the only crime we all committed was to offend a noble which got us sent into exile.
-Then i see no problem with getting a probationary asylum for now
-I understand your caution in this matter and I'm sure that everyone will agree.
Then this matter is settled. Now let's talk about your ship.
-The ship won't be staying here, me and the rest of my crew have some unfinished business back in the empire.
-Well i don't really care but if you want to stay longer than two weeks inside our borders then you have to register this ship.
-We are leaving as soon as those that want to stay disembark.
-Why the rush?
- Because we don't have the money to register the ship so we need to leave to avoid breaking your laws.
The station master thought for a while.
-You are a mercenary,so if money is your problem then i have a proposition for you.
Tommy was a little surprised hearing that.
-What kind of proposition?
-You see, we have a bit of a pirate problem around here and we lack means to solve it.
The navy is busy preparing for the invasion and can't spare ships to deal with some pirates.
-Then you want me to take care of them for you and you will pay me a reward.
-If you take them out,I won't only pay you but also register your ship for free.
Tommy thought it through .
-That sounds reasonable.
I will need some information about the target and where they usually attack so I can find their hideout.
-Actually i will give you the exact location, we know where they are but just don't have the means to eradicate them.
-Then you have yourself a deal.
One hand shake later Tommy went back to his ship.
He gathered everyone and explained the situation. Those that wanted to leave had to leave their armors and weapons behind,but they could always return if they wanted and if they were ever in trouble they all got a frequency they could use to contact the ship.
With more than half of the crew gone, the ship felt emptier but to his surprise Alice and all of her staff decided to stick around also all of the bridge crew,the engineers even Garry and Jess wanted to stay.
After everyone who wanted to leave,left he explained the mission he just received from the station master to his reduced crew.
-This should be an easy mission,we know where they are and they're biggest ship is most likely a destroyer class at least that's the biggest one that was spotted.
-Our reward will be the free registration of the star and some funds that we badly need.
So what do you say?
Tommy didn't want to drag them onto this assignment if they didn't want to do it.
He especially was worried that Alice would protest against unnecessary violence.
But to his surprise she agreed.
-I don't like pirates any more than nobles so i don't have a problem with it and we need the funds for some medicine,I'm tired of working without most of the basic drugs.
Was what she said.
The rest of the group also did not object; some were even excited at the prospect of pirate hunting.
The added bonus was that whatever they found inside the hideout was theirs to take with some minor exceptions.
They detached from the station and went on their way this time without the escorts and the border guards were quite happy about the whole thing,it would make their jobs easier.
It took them two days to get to their target.
The pirates were shocked to see a cruiser coming their way but they soon scrambled all the ships they had.
They had two destroyer class vessels, 5 frigate class,13 corvette class and some fighters.
They soon found out that it didn't matter, especially since their ships were mostly converted civilian ships.
The destroyers were the first to go; they were not destroyed but cripled one salvo for each of them did the trick.
The rest of their small fleet wasn't so lucky.
The Star of Vengeance simply slaughtered them. Three frigates got hit with the torpedoes and just blew up ,the other two got a MAC round each that went through them ripping them apart.
The corvettes got the same treatment but most of them exploded thanks to the missiles.
And their fighters got shredded by point defenses when they tried to do a strafing run.
All that was left was the pirate base.
Tommy ordered Simon to target the defenses only and prepare a boarding party.
An hour later Tommy led a ten person squad most of which were ex military inside the hideout.
Using one of the shuttles they went inside.
They met some resistance but not much as most of the pirates were now drifting in space.
The rest was quickly dealt with and thanks to the shields in their armors Tommy's squad didn't have a single casualty.
It took four hours to make sure that all the pirates were cleared out but they found many things worth taking.
They spent the next three days transporting the goods they found, unfortunately some of the items they would have to return to the station master but all the rest was theirs for the taking.
They also found 4 ships that were reported as missing but there was no sign of their crews.
Tommy decided to leave some mines around the hideout so that no other pirates could use it and ask the border guards or station master to send someone for the ships.
In less than a week they were back to the station with the good news.
-Thank you,thanks to your efforts this place is safe again.
-That's our job and you are paying us for it.
Tommy was again in the station masters office.
-You are right but it's still a good thing for us all that the pirates are eliminated.
The station master thanked him.
-Like i said you hired us to do it.
Also i didn't destroy the hideout just cleared it and left some mines to be sure that no one else will use it.
There are four ships inside and I don't have enough crew to bring them back so you will have to do it yourselves.
Here are the codes to disarm the mines we left.
Tommy explained the situation and handed over the codes.
-Thank you I will ask the border guards to take care of it.
There are also some things I need to return to you from the pirate loot that we found.
-I will immediately send someone to collect them.
-Then all that is left is our reward.
-Everything is ready,you just need to go to the registration office and deal with the paperwork.
The money will be sent into your account within 24 hours.
-Thank you station master,and I have a favor to ask of you.
-If i can help i will.
-You see I'm a mercenary not a merchant and i need to sell most of the loot we confiscated from the pirates so could you recommend some merchants that will buy the stuff for a fair price?
-You are in the right place. I will contact some of my acquaintances so in a day or two it should be settled.
-Thank you, and how are my people doing? any problems?
Tommy was curious about his former crewmates.
-No problems at all,they are very competent and most of them already have a job as a part of the station crew..
Then they don't cause problems and I think that in about a week they will get permanent asylum.
The station master looked happy to have them.
-Thank you for accepting them.
-I thank you for bringing them here. They are a huge help to this station.
-I'm happy to hear that.
Tommy said happily.
-Ok now let's get going to the registration office to get that over with.