Chapter 147: Give the Pirates a Little Strength
At the time of the universe, it was November 2, 588 in the New Calendar, and the asteroid belt had not yet been named.
This overall length is about 0.4 astronomical units and is registered in the game as the asteroid belt UD74290.
It is speculated that it was formed by the disintegration of a low-mass planet that originally existed in this galaxy.
The entire asteroid belt contains a large number of asteroids with a mass of hundreds of millions of tons, as well as countless secondary asteroids, and is also rich in various heavy metals such as platinum, nickel, iron, palladium, rhodium, and ice cubes.
Because it is far away from major spheres of influence, the probability of farming pirates is relatively low, and there are also super large ice bodies that can replenish important water. Therefore, this asteroid belt is also the first place for a large number of novice players to gain their first pot of gold and move towards deep space. One stop.
Precisely because there are too many novice players, a large number of asteroids have been hollowed out through years of mining, and they look like cheese in cartoons.
Therefore it is also known as Players nicknamed it 'Jerry's Paradise'.
But now, this place has nothing to do with 'Jerry's Paradise'.
There are no small mining ships that shuttle like little bees, nor those large star-breaking ships that are like giant whales in the star sea.
Those huge asteroids don't have those messy holes dug on them.
Everything seems to be the same as it has been for hundreds of thousands of years, without any change.
Of course, it just seems.
Because in the area named D211 in the game, an asteroid with a long axis of 2.5 kilometers and a short axis of 1.2 kilometers is 'clinging' to an object that is not naturally formed.
It is a human mining operation base. It is currently in working condition and fixed on the asteroid, serving as an ore refining component, parking area, master control room and personnel rest cabin.
Near the asteroid, two human-style ships were staying relatively stationary with the asteroid.
From the appearance point of view, these two ships are armed merchant ships converted from civilian ships.
Their ships all have traces of shoddy modifications and repairs, and various 'patches' are applied irregularly.
The only thing they have in common is the huge white skull painted on the bow of the ship.
This also shows the identity of these two armed merchant ships - interstellar pirates.
This ancient profession has accompanied mankind throughout the Age of Discovery and witnessed mankind's galloping and fighting on the ocean.
Although, as humans have more and more control over the ocean, this extremely risky profession once degenerated from sailing warships to small sampans, and even almost became extinct.
But after entering the interstellar era, the situation has undergone new changes.
The vastness of the universe makes it almost impossible for humans to fully control it. It also gives more space and possibilities for hunting merchant ships and evading pursuit.
Humanity's huge territory and population distribution, complex social ecology, and class and social contradictions have also spawned a large number of desperadoes.
Coupled with the popularity of civilian ships in the market, the ship modification business becoming more and more mature, and various weapons flowing into the private sector legally or illegally, a new generation of armed merchant ships emerged.
As for robbing a merchant ship or a star-rated cruise ship, if you are lucky, the profit can be worth decades of hard work.
Such an 'investment rate of return' makes those desperadoes who have no place in society desperately 'invest' their lives into this traditional industry.
It also makes the ancient profession of pirates appear again.
It’s just that this time, it will be preceded by the word ‘interstellar’.
It is precisely because of the emergence of interstellar pirates that transporting cargo in the universe has become a dangerous thing again.
The route between the spaceport and the deep space jump drive array is dangerous for civilian ships not equipped with jump drives.
For civilian ships equipped with jump drives, it is also dangerous not to make a space jump.
Although the routes that each galaxy can use to save trouble with the gravitational slingshot are fixed, it cannot cope with the vast area of territory that humans currently control.
Even if the navies of all the major forces are deployed, they will not be able to protect all routes.
Moreover, the extremely low cost-efficiency ratio has also led to the official escort fleet to only guard the routes in the core galaxy.
Similar to the secondary galaxy where Adam was ambushed by Amber and the others, there would only be patrol fleets.
For even worse galaxies, as well as edge galaxies, we can only rely on the captains to rely on their own abilities.
So the officials of various forces have also opened weapons modification licenses to civilian ships for self-defense during long voyages.
PMCs have also taken up the task of escorting long-distance voyages.
But unfortunately, such measures have given rise to many ‘part-time pirates’.
On weekdays, it runs the normal route, just like other cargo ships.
But if there is an excellent opportunity in front of them, they don't mind taking a shot and making some extra money.
The Eric brothers who hijacked the Timler Mining Company's base of operations started out as 'part-time pirates'.
After doing a few jobs, I found that although this industry is risky, the money comes in quickly and the efficiency is much higher than running freight.
So the two of them were convinced and decided to switch to full-time jobs.
It took me five years to do this.
The two brothers have also changed from honest cargo captains at the beginning to pirate leaders with blood on their hands.
Although at the beginning, Brother Eric just wanted to save enough money and then stop and live the rest of his life.
But how can you save enough money?
The more money you have, the more you will want more money.
What’s more, there are some people in this world whose efficiency in ‘stealing money’ from others is infinitely higher than that of pirates.
The luxurious interstellar hotels, super-large luxury casinos opened by these people, as well as the hot and scantily clad girls inside, transferred the unheated money from the Eric brothers and them at a faster speed. snatched from the hands of his subordinates.
As a result, these two people not only saved money, but also increased the frequency of attacking civilian ships.
Only in this way can they satisfy their growing desires and the fantasy of making a comeback in the casino.
But if you want to intercept merchant ships in the Mangmang universe, it is actually a job that depends on luck.
In a sense, it can be regarded as ‘depending on the sky’.
Unfortunately, perhaps because they had too many lives on their hands, the two brothers' luck became worse and worse.
Having not opened for two consecutive months, not only did they have no money to spend time in the Gold Sales Cave, they even began to run out of basic supplies needed to navigate the universe.
Under this situation, the two brothers were forced to try some new tracks in the field of interstellar pirates.
I don’t know if the luck of these two people was good or bad, but they finally found the base of operations of Timler Mining Company.
And there is no escort of armed ships.
After easily dismantling the fixed defenses of the operating base, the pirates captured the operating base.
Then, the two brothers impatiently sent blackmail messages to Timler Mining Company based on the methods they learned through movies and 'industry exchanges'.
What they want is very little, precious metals equivalent to 20 million Imperial Golden Dragons.
They will leave after confirming receipt, otherwise they will kill the more than 100 workers they hijacked.
The two brothers thought very simply. If they sell this kind of precious metal with the attribute of "stolen goods" through the black market, they will basically discount it by 50%.
The price of 20 million for more than 100 people plus this operational base and three small mining ships is already the 'friendly price' given by the two of them.
If they succeed, they will get rid of the precious metals as quickly as possible, and then go out with 10 million imperial gold dragons to live life
But something happened that the two brothers could not figure out even if they thought about it. .
The information was sent out for more than ten days, and Marvin Eric, the eldest brother in the middle, even sent another one because he was worried that the other party had not received the information.
The result is still nothing, and I haven’t been able to wait for a reply.
If the various supplies in the operation base were not sufficient, their brothers might have become the first pirates in history to give up extortion due to insufficient supplies.
“Damn it, why didn’t you reply even though you’ve read the message?”
Marvin Eric, sitting in the main seat of the control room, chewed in confusion. Holding a toothpaste-like ration. And his younger brother, John Eric, was also sullen.
He felt that he and his eldest brother were in the most embarrassing moment since joining the industry.
This kind of operating base in the deep space asteroid belt would not be a good thing even if it has supplies.
The workers’ daily food consists of toothpaste-like rations with different flavorings and drinking water produced by the circulation device.
The only entertainment items are pre-downloaded games, holographic movies and pornographic movies.
Forget about the asteroid belts in remote areas like the mobile red-light districts filled with prostitutes.
The workers can only entertain themselves to pass the boring time during the rotation break.
"Brother, do you think it's because this mining company can't afford so much money? Or it doesn't have precious metals worth 20 million Imperial Golden Dragons on hand? Do you think we should consider giving them a lower price?"
“Bang!”
Before John could finish speaking, the eldest brother Marvin was so angry that he threw the uneaten ration in his face.
"Listen to what you say, do you look like a pirate?!"
Marvin, who felt annoyed, kicked his brother again.
The base of operations does not have artificial gravity, and this kick also kicked John far away.
But his younger brother remained unyielding. He slowly floated over and said cautiously:
"Brother, you see, we have been here for so long, and the other party is still unwilling. Paying the ransom is not an option if this continues, the brothers’ mood is getting lower day by day”
This time, Marvin did not kick his brother out because he knew that his brother, who had been smart since he was a child, was right.
The pirates under my command are not very good. If they continue to waste like this, who knows if they will come up with a "bottom to defeat the top"?
Seeing that his elder brother did not kick him away again, John knew that he had been persuaded by him, and then whispered into his ear:
"We can consider moving this operations base Pack up the whole package with the workers and take them away, and then go to the black market to find someone to hack the security system and positioning device. In this way, whether we sell those slave mines or open our own slave mine, this trip will be considered rewarding."< br>
Marvin was indeed persuaded.
Because this operational base has a universal interface, it can be mounted on the ship's universal slide rail, and it can indeed be 'packed and taken away'.
And as his brother said, switching careers to open a slave mine is indeed a choice that many pirates will make if they don't want to live a life of licking blood from the edge of a knife.
As long as you have the name of a mining company, those businessmen who are active in the mineral trading market will not care whether your ore is mined by employees or slaves.
Although doing this job is not as big as being a pirate, you can at least achieve a steady stream of success.
If you are lucky enough to find a high-quality asteroid, you can dig it for three to five years without any problem.
Just as the two brothers were discussing the specific operation method of this plan, a destroyer in a covert operation state was approaching at a constant speed at a position of 32,651 kilometers from the asteroid where the operation base was located.
"Lea, report the current situation."
"Report to the acting captain, the current relative speed to the target is 20.8 kilometers per second, and it is expected to enter the target warning circle in 18 minutes and 9 seconds.
Two unidentified ships were found near the target location, which were relatively stationary to the target. Based on the infrared characteristics, there is an 85% chance that they are armed merchant ships modified from two Nerus-class cargo ships."
< br>The sweet voice of the shipboard controller broadcast the current information one by one.
As the first ten-year veteran fed by Lilith using the "Advanced Combat Video", it inherited the name "Leah" that Lilith had used when she disguised herself as a battleship controller personality.
Randall, who was originally the Tactical Operations Officer (TAO) of the Hermes, was currently sitting on the captain's seat as the acting captain, listening to Leah's report.
Where is Amber, the captain?
Of course, the HCP, which has completed preparations, is making final preparations before the attack.
It’s really not that Amber wants to be a hands-off shopkeeper, or wants to attack as an HCP.
He originally planned to command the battleship to conduct a high-speed assault and kill the pirates' armed merchant ships before they could react.
Then let the Marines jump to the base of operations and start space CQB.
But when he arrived at the location, he realized that the job was not that simple.
The target asteroid may be located at a location where a larger asteroid split after an impact. Therefore, the asteroid is relatively densely distributed and the surrounding area is not too empty.
A large number of asteroids of the same grade or secondary level are densely distributed in this area at intervals of tens to hundreds of kilometers.
And Brother Eric has been a pirate for so many years, and he is not just doing it for a living.
For this vote, they released many self-powered air mines disguised as asteroid fragments nearby.
One of the two armed merchant ships carried a container full of these things.
These annoying gadgets make the originally narrow route more difficult to pass, and it is also difficult for Amber and the others to mark all the air mines.
This caused the high-speed raid plan to go to waste before it even started.
But Amber was not frustrated at all, and immediately came up with a second battle plan.
Let the Hermes maintain a certain relative speed and reach a position of 10,000 kilometers.
This is also the warning range of the detection units of most civilian ships and operational bases.
At this distance, Hermes' two heavy particle cannons fire alternately, performing a non-converging shot and a standard shot.
In the non-convergent shooting mode, the heavy metal particle jet that loses the directional magnetic field constraints will spread out after leaving the acceleration orbit, covering a large area.
Although basically unable to cause damage to ships, it is completely sufficient if it is just to detonate or destroy air mines.
The second standard shot will clear a clean path for Amber.
At the same time, Amber, who had completed ejection before the bombardment, would rush in directly along this route with maximum thrust.
At the same time, an assault boat full of Marines will rush over behind.
It is different from the more violent assault cabins used before.
The assault boat is a small transport boat with thicker armor, specially used for gang-hopping against targets that are not suitable for the assault cabin.
As a standard configuration of the Dragoon destroyer, this assault boat is usually docked near the bottom tank.
As long as the HCP and assault boats can be sent to a location near the operational base, the next job will be easy.
To sum up, this HCP raid is relatively difficult and dangerous.
After all, even after being shot by a heavy particle cannon, there is no guarantee that the route will be completely clean.
So in the end, Amber took over the task of driving the HCP with a heavy face.
“Let’s give these pirates some strength!”
That’s what he said just now, and then left the bridge.
“This guy must be very happy!”
Randall, who was forced to become the acting captain and sat on the captain’s seat, said helplessly.
"It must be, didn't you see that he could barely control his mouth just now?"
Sitting on the CIC command seat, Isabel, who is responsible for assisting the tactical operations officers and coordinating the entire CIC operation, looked away. Curling her lips, she knew very well what Amber was thinking.
“Forget it, the burden of running the company has been on his shoulders recently, let’s just let this guy be happy.”
Randall shook his head, and then his tone changed.
“The entire ship enters the first level combat state,”
(End of this chapter)