Chapter 76: Pirate Elimination Rewards

Adam gained access to the Palaxia Defence Force spaceport after showing his ID and quickly boarded Spector before saying.

"Let's go."

"Affirmative."

[[Condition Blue.]]

Spector lifted off and headed towards space as Adam asked, "Any uninvited guests while I was away?"

He was slightly concerned that the defence force personnel might have tried something while he was at the Mercenary Hall.

"Negative, a few Palaxia Defence Force personnel approached me to take pictures but nothing other than that." Spector reported.

"Good, it's time to earn some real money from the special mission." Adam declared happily.

[Launching stream.]

[[Stream description below:]]

[[Stream Title: Mercenary Hall Special Mission: Pirate Elimination]]

[[Mission Parameters: Because of your actions the Palaxia Defence Form has commissioned a Mercenary Hall Special Mission to eliminate the pirates and their base. The greater your participation in the special mission the greater your reward will be.]]

[[Missions Goal: Eliminate as many pirates as possible to increase your participation and subsequent reward.]]

[Forever1stCommenter (Earth): First.]

[Netononato (Earth): Oh yeah here we go, massive space battle time.]

[Leonthemoneygiver (Earth): Been looking forward to this.]

[Entrash (Hoenn 7): A space battle? Made it just in time.]

[Noobkiller9000 (Earth): Has a space battle with so many ships ever been shown before?]

[adg (Indigo Station): Not on a steam no, while reporters have reported live from battlefields for newscasts in the past, no streamer has ever actively participated in a large scale space battle.]

[Vinnaka (Felinia 6): Unless you count those obviously staged fake battles.]

[adg (Indigo Station): That's why we don't count them.]

[Celebrityhunter69 (Earth): So this will be a first?]

[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): Well yeah, after all, what streamer is mad enough to participate in a massive space battle just to increase in viewer count?]

"Guilty as charged." Adam said to the chat as Spectator left Palaxia's atmosphere and they all got a good look at all the ships that would be taking part in the special mission.

[Noobkiller9000 (Earth): Fuck look at all those ships.]

[Gunlovergirl (Earth): Now that's some firepower hehehe 😍]

[Justiceistruth: (Earth): I think we just lost the crazy gun girl.]

[Devil_Prince_Asura (Deverinian 9): This is certainly a first for us viewers. As adg said coverage of space battles are normally done by reporters from a safe distance and very rarely will they be allowed to broadcast from the bridge of a ship in active combat. This time however we are not only getting coverage from the very middle of the action.]

As the chat was discussing the upcoming battle Adam suddenly received a communication request which he quickly answered before Admiral Dexter appeared on the viewscreen

He was wearing combat gear and sat in what appeared to be the captain's chair off a large ship as Terran's kept running around behind him while others worked at their consoles.

"Spector, I have a special assignment for you. Since you have proven able to get close to the pirates base without being detected I need you to proceed there ahead of the fleet to keep watch on the base and notify me if anything unusual happens."

"That's fine but I won't be able to contact you while I'm near the base since they will pick up the communication signal, I will need to move away and things could change in that short amount of time." Adam replied.

"No need to worry about that, That brat Andrew is currently observing your stream and he will inform me of anything that happens." 

[MerceadAnderson (Palaxia): Hi 👋]

[Lizziethetruepower (Palalxia): Take this seriously you idiot, or do you want me to make it two months on the sofa.]

[MerceadAnderson (Palaxia): No Lizzie I'm sorry, I will be serious.]

[Lizziethetruepower (Palalxia): 😤]

[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): Hen pecked husband. Kekeke]

[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): What's that mean?]

[Whostolemyduck (Earth): "Henpecked" is referring to a man who is being excessively controlled or dominated by his wife.]

[MerceadAnderson (Palaxia): 😭]

[Beczontop (Imperial Down): 😂]

"Understood admiral." Adam replied as he piloted Spector to head for the asteroid field.

"Good, keep your comms on for now as I'm about to brief the other mercenaries." Admiral Dexter said before ending the communication.

A few seconds later Spector spoke up.

"We are receiving a request to join a group communication channel named Pirate Elimination Force."

"Accept it." Adam said and a few moments later he heard Admiral Dexter's voice over the comm as the man addressed the fleet on its private channel.

"Attention all ships, our destination is the asteroid field where we will attack and destroy a pirate base that until recently was unknown to us."

"Each ship will be assigned to their own battle group on route so make sure you're grouped up with your teammates by the time we hit the asteroid field."

"We don't expect much resistance before encountering the pirate base, however there is still a chance we will come across pirates on patrol in the area so if you encounter any feel free to terminate with extreme prejudice."

"Upon arrival at the base the defence force and any mercenaries ships that are cruiser class and above will target the bases defences of which are apparently limited along with any cruiser or above class ships the pirates have while the defence force launches drop ships to board the station and rescue any captives being imprisoned there."

"Large and Medium class ships will engage large and medium class pirate ships while small ships will engage any small pirate ships while assisting the large and medium."

"While we don't expect much in terms of defence from the base itself, we are unsure how many pirate vessels are currently at or around the base."

"Individual ship elimination rewards will be sent out in a document to you all momentarily."

"May the gods smile upon us and grant us victory in this battle."

"All ships advance."

As Admiral Dexter finished the comm went silent and Adam along with all the other mercs received a document outlining how much each ship elimination would reward them.

[[Pirate ship elimination rewards]]

[[Small Class Ships: 500 credits]]

[[Medium Class Ships: 1,000 credits]]

[[Large Class Ships: 2,000 credits]]

[[Cruiser Class ships and above: 5,000 credits]]

[[Ship belonging to the pirate boss Bonnie assuming she is aboard it: 10,000 credits.]]

[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2):Fuck! No wonder all the mercs were so excited about this special mission, it really is a pay day.]

[Tessisdabest (Imperial Down): Pirate elimination special missions always reward those taking part well, though I am surprised by these rewards, they're higher than the standard.]

[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): It's not that surprising, considering the humiliation the Palaxia Defence force will face once this all becomes public, they want to be able to claim that they wiped out all the pirates in one single strike. Add on the fact there is a pirate base as well. It's no surprise the rewards are higher than the standard rate.]

[Prestigious3horns (Vinox 2): Low whistle, 10,000 credits for taking out one pirate thought.]

[Beczontop (Imperial Down): Well she is the pirates boss and also the main cause of their humiliation, she is a target that absolutely must be killed or captured.]

[OfficialLorelie (Imperial Down): I hope they manage to rescue all the captives and get them out safely.]

[Superhearofangirl (Earth): Agreed.]

[Celebrityhunter69 (Earth): Awwww Diva Lorelie you're so caring and compassionate. 😍]

[Justiceistruth: (Earth): Crazy fan girl.]

As Spector entered the asteroid field Adam had it enter condition brown while they continued towards the pirate base. 

He made sure to stay out of there sensor range as he passed a few pirate patrol craft that where as usual chatting on open comms 

Until he eventually got within visual range of the pirate base.

[Noobkiller9000 (Earth): Looks pretty normal, I don't see a sudden mass of ships taking off all at once.]

[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): True but a fleet that size won't stay hidden for long and the pirates are bound to notice them.]

"Anything interesting on sensors?" Adam asked.

"Negative, everything seems normal and no ships are currently launching."

Adam kept an eye on the pirate base and the sensor readings for about half an hour before something Beczontop said in chat caught his attention.

[Beczontop (Imperial Down): I think something is about to happen streamer. 🤭]

"And how would you know that?" Adam asked.

[Beczontop (Imperial Down): Royal Entertainment and Lorelie just hosted a press conference accusing Drotas Entertainment of the attack on her ship.]

[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): What!]

[Prestigious3horns (Vinox 2): Seriously?]

[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): For real?]

[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): Interesting.]

The non-Earth viewers kept responding with surprise before Adam said, "So you actually went ahead and did it.]

[OfficialLorelie (Imperial Down): Did you anticipate me doing this streamer?]

"Not exactly, though I gave you that data drive and put you in contact with Royal Entertainment, what you decided to do in the end was your choice. I just gave you options."

[OfficialLorelie (Imperial Down): …]

[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): I just checked the newscasts, are you really in negotiations about signing with Royal Entertainment?]

[OfficialLorelie (Imperial Down): Yes, though nothing has been decided yet as it's still in the early stages.]

[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): I bet there's a certain admiral on a certain flag ship that's not happy about this. Kekeke.]

💫💫💫

Aboard the pirate elimination fleets flag ship Admiral Dexter suddenly yelled, "FUCKING CELEBRITIES."