Sitting in the cockpit of the Sparrow Mark thought over his last feeding, however at the end he let out a sigh and muttered
"In the end, I lack information…"
[Mark?]
"It's nothing, how is the skimming going?"
[Yes, while the security systems are worn down from lack of maintenance and bad actors, a lot less credits are flowing around the station so my skimming have only earned a total of 11.812 credits so far]
"That's still better than nothing, it's not like my outing earned anything other than a meal and this shitty laser pistol"
After the little one examined the laser pistol Mark had looted, he found out why the man had shoved it into his face. It was busted beyond repair, its lethal range was only a meter at most
"How about weaponry, have you found anything useful at all?"
[No, all the ship armaments as well as the kind of modules we are looking for that seem even somewhat promising all have widely inflated prices]
"What about the mercenary guild?"
[I have located it, however their office is in a restricted area not open to civilians due to the lowered security rating. We will need to leave the system to sign up with them]
"Right then, that's not happening anything soon then… How's the work on the suit going?"
After having the salvaged suit recognized, Mark had asked the little one to camouflage the suit a bit
[Yes, It's been disguised to what I believe is a significant degree"
After the little one finished speaking, the internal hatch opened and a drone came flying carrying his vacuum suit, plating had been welded to it, and it had been dyed black. The helmet had been significantly reinforced too, overall it now looked like an armored vacuum suit
'Even if it is just for looks…'
[Incoming external communications]
"Patch them through"
A moment passed before the barkeep's voice echoed out through the cockpit
"Hey, Flyboy, are you still interested in some work?"
"Sure, whether I take it or not depends on how much you are paying though"
"While I admire your confidence, I can't really give you anything important while not knowing your skills, so I'll throw you an easy job to start with… I won't pay you for it in credits, but I'll send a full load of ammo for that pair of size 2 Autocannons you are rocking"
"Can you give me some time to think it over?"
"Sure, I'll give you a few minutes, call me back once you've made your decision~"
[Communication terminated, what shall we do Mark?]
"I take it, weapon information on a personally owned ship isn't public information?"
[No, far from it, I am currently tracking down where the information leaked. My best guess right now is the hanger surveillance array]
"Well, how about the reward, how much does two full loads of size 2 autocannon rounds go for?"
[Depending on the type, anywhere from 15 to 85 thousand credits]
Mark blinked twice before he counted on his fingers for a few moments and decided
"Call her back, I've decided"
A few moments passed before the barkeeps voice echoed out once again
"Have you thought over my offer, Flyboy?"
"Yeah, I'll take the work… What do you need done?"
-
[Coordinates reached, punch out in 5 seconds]
Mark let out a deep breath before the Sparrow shock as it returned to real space, immediately he kicked it sidewards and into the cover of an asteroid, they had arrived in a belt around Creh-8, the body furthest from the star
[Targets have been painted, it is just as the contact described]
Around a kilometer ahead lay an outpost just like it had been described in the info package from the barkeep, according to her some unsavory types had discovered and gained access to the facility after which they had taken over the security systems
"We just have to take out the turrets, right?"
[Yes, after which we are to contact the barkeep and lock down the area until the personal that will clear out the facility arrive]
"Alright…"
Mark steered the Sparrow around the asteroids as he closed in on the outpost
[Sensor ping detected, here it comes]
Mark nodded and a moment later the turrets on the station lit the asteroid field up with laser fire, at once the Sparrow shock as it kicked to the side far beyond a normal person's G tolerance as Mark fired upon the first turret, instantly overloading its shield
'So quick high G maneuvers… With the amount of cover around here this should be easy…'
Mark maneuvered the Sparrow rapidly around in between the cover of several asteroids as he opened up on the next turret
[Increase your time in cover and move more erratically]
Following the little one's instructions, the stray hits that had bounced off the Sparrow's shields all but disappeared
"Well, this is almost too easy"
[It might be for us, but please consider the sustained G load would get any other pilot killed]
"Yeah, not us though"
Taking down the rest of the turrets only took around half an hour, finishing up Mark began maneuvering around the asteroid belt idly as he double-checked the outpost with his unnatural senses
"5… no, 6 but 2 of them smell almost the same weirdly enough… Well, raise our flag, this castle is under our control, call up the barkeep"
[Confirmed, relaying encrypted data package… Outpost handshake confirmed, long range communication access attained, calling contact… Line open in 5]
A few moments passed before the voice of the barkeep sounded out in the cockpit
"Alcia here..?"
Her voice sounded groggy like she had just woken up, a smile spread over Mark's face as he spoke
"Sorry about waking you, just thought you would appreciate a personal confirmation"
"Flyboy? Wait, are you already done..?"
"Yep, I'm all finished up, I also locked down and borrowed the outpost communication systems to give you a call"
A moment passed before the barkeep answered, by now the sleepiness in her voice had all but disappeared
"Alright, I'll send out our guys now… They should be there in an hour or so"
"Sure, I'll hold the place down until they arrive"
[Communication has been terminated, I will be getting a better look inside the outpost…]
"Got it, well what to do now…"
Spinning the Sparrow around idly, Mark waited for backup to arrive…
-
"Alright, stay frosty Aliza, Punch out in 30 seconds…"
"I still find it hard to believe the boss lady found a guy that managed to secure this outpost in only a couple of hours…"
Jeqer ignored his wingman's speculation and simply responded
"That's why I need you frosty Aliza"
"Got it, smooth like ice~"
A few tense moments passed before the 2 combat ships punched out, appearing back in real space a massive asteroid belt spread out in front of the two crafts. However instead of approaching at once the two crafts first radiated off the waste heat from their FTL drives as Jeqer worked his sensor array
'...There, the outpost is still airtight… The turrets have been destroyed and there's only superficial damage around the plating near the mounts too…'
Having confirmed the state of the outpost, Jeqer widened his sensor array to the space near the outpost, however he still didn't see any other crafts than them
"Any eyes on this Flyboy, Aliza?"
"Nothing on scope yet… Wait, there he is, sector 8"
Jeqer quickly refocused his sensor array and soon picked up the so named 'Flyboy'
"What the fuck is he doing? He's going almost 400m/s…"
"No idea, however, boss lady really picked a fitting nickname this time…"
Acquiring a visual feed on the craft that zoomed around the asteroid field casually pulling maneuvers even would have a hard time pulling off in open space, Jeqer simply watched Flyboy do his thing for a few moments before the contact suddenly disappeared from his sensor feed. At that, Jeqer suddenly snapped out of his daze and realized that the two of them were acting a little too sloppy
"Shit, broadcast our affiliation and intentions"
"On it"
A few moments passed before Flyboy popped back up on the sensor feed, the craft which looked highly modified had moved around a kilometer closer to the two of them before it had reappeared on their sensor feeds
'Well within rail cannon range too… that was a little too close…'
"Open up a line Aliza, I'll start the pest extermination"
Flying his ship closer to the outpost, Jeqer made a mental note to complain to Alcia about her pick of merc for this particular mission
-
[Short range communication broadcast intercepted, IFF confirmed, it is the back-up the barkeep have sent us]
"Boo~"
Retracting the deployed hard points again, Mark switched the Sparrow out of silent running and started venting the stored heat from the internal heat sinks
'Lack of bloodshed aside, this cold running really is useful, sure the Sparrow can only run cold for so long given the internal heat capacity, but it really worked well to disappear from their sensor field…'
Having given up his ambush posterior Mark burned out of the asteroid field to get ready for FTL cruise, on the way there the little one spoke out
[Incoming short range communications]
A moment later the voice of a young woman echoed out in the cockpit
"Aliza here, we are moving in to do some pest exterminations Flyboy"
"Got it, I take it my job is done?"
"Yep~ Boss lady have already released your payment so it will be ready when you return to the Creh-2 hub"
"Alright, I am dipping out then… Oh, there are 2 hostages inside the outpost, so watch your pesticide"
[Communications link closed, FTL drive ready for punch]
"Hit it"
A moment passed before the Sparrow shock as the FTL drive kicked in, and the Sparrow instantly accelerated to a high fraction of the speed of light
'I should go back to port and act like I am asleep for a few hours at the very least…'
"Order a bottle of booze once we're docked up, then put me on do not disturb for 6 hours"
[Got it Mark]