What Do You Mean I'm The Captain Of A Yandere Mercenary Company? Chapter 3 You Will Probably Die If Killed Here

"Damn it, at last! Did you two wander off and lose yourselves in the ship or what?! And what the hell happened to your comms?! I was getting nothing but static crap when I tried reaching you!" The pirate snarled as the door slid open.

Two sets of footsteps crossed the docking hatch before halting in front of the two figures bent over the console.

The arriving pair moved nearer to their motionless companions.

"Hey! I'm speaking to you! You gone deaf or something?!"

The front one yanked the shoulder of a slumped pirate, making the body collapse to the floor.

As they were still processing their buddy's death, I emerged from the darkness behind them and unleashed my blaster at one pirate.

The energy bolt struck perfectly, smashing his skull wide open.

"What the hell?!" The remaining pirate yelled, leaping back as his other companion toppled down.

I swung my aim to the surviving pirate and fired once more.

But rather than exploding his head like the rest, a faint glowing blue barrier popped up around his head and soaked up the shot from my weapon, making it useless.

He spun around and our gazes locked, his expression flipping from shock to fury in an instant.

"You bitch!!!" He bellowed, his fingers dropping to his waist for his blaster.

Bad luck for him, it was secured on his belt with a latch he was now struggling to release.

I let go of the energy blaster in my grip and grabbed the pilfered rifle from an earlier pirate, my instincts guiding me to aim the muzzle at the pirate's torso before pulling the trigger.

Bright bursts of light filled the space as I unloaded the entire clip into him.

The shimmering blue shield reappeared before him, deflecting a few rounds until it cracked with a sharp electronic chime.

The shots that followed tore into his body, and he didn't even manage a cry before hitting the deck on his back, his just-drawn pistol clanging beside his corpse.

I worked to steady my breaths.

Alright, alright… I'm okay… I'm okay…

The odor of charred meat hit me.

Ugh…

I rose and retched into a corner, avoiding the sight of the corpses and breathing through my mouth.

This is happening… This is real… Bleh…

It took some time until my breathing normalized, and I stood tall again.

I needed to do that, or I'd be the one sprawled out…

Yeah… Exactly…

This was the reality… And I ought to adapt to it quickly…

I discarded the empty rifle and examined the charge on my blaster, noting enough power for three additional blasts.

Gripping my blaster, I approached the two pirates I'd just slain to confirm their demise.

Assured they were gone, I searched for any handy gear without gagging.

My hunt yielded results like the initial two pirates. So, two extra ballistic assault rifles and two magazines per set.

Next, I pondered the blue barrier on the last fellow, my eyes catching a rectangular device attached to his belt—the sole item he carried that the others lacked.

Yanking it from his body, I held it for a closer look but spotted nothing special except a glowing display pulsing the same pale blue as the barrier.

Could this be a device for a protective field or similar? Nothing like it existed in the game.

I fastened it to my own belt, yet nothing activated. No switches to activate… Maybe its power was depleted?

Never mind, I'd sort it later.

I was tackling all this because I knew danger lingered. The pirate vessel linked to mine could harbor more foes, and until purged, threats remained.

Gazing at the hatch linking my ship to theirs, I crept toward it on tiptoes.

I took one assault rifle and two extra magazines for potential heavy combat.

Sticking to the shadows as best I could, I boarded the pirate ship blaster ready. The tight corridors favored the blaster over the rifle for peeking around bends right now.

The initial room I entered looked like their weapon storage, barren save for additional clips for the ballistic rifles. Past it stretched a lengthy hall with doors lining both sides, ending in a spacious zone ahead.

I slunk along the hall, peering into each door for hidden pirates.

I noticed those doors were crew bunks, total disasters. Well… Typical pirate mess, I suppose?

All rooms lacked occupants, so I hurried by to what seemed the mess hall, based on the table, seats, and scattered rations I figured for space meals, entering gun raised.

"You guys forget something?" A voice rang out.

I aimed my blaster toward the sound, spotting a startled woman with fiery red hair in a ponytail. She wore an eyepatch embroidered with an exclamation mark and fixed her single eye on me.

"Shit! Don't fire! I'm not armed!" She shouted, hands up high.

I held my gun steady on her, "Who else is aboard?"

"Tch… If you've taken out the four who boarded your ship… It's just me now… Cockpit's behind me if you wanna verify."

I squinted at her, "You don't look bothered that I killed your crew."

"Crew? Ha. More like loose allies. Not my original bunch anyway. Worst lot yet, total pigs."

"You won't jump me once I drop the gun, right?"

She looked taken aback, "Hold on… You're not planning to off me?"

I arched a brow, "You want me to?"

"Hell no. But heads up, no bounty on me, alright? Don't flip out later if you were gonna claim one by hauling me in."

"You're cool with capture? I figured pirates die before surrendering."

Truth be told… I wouldn't know, but game pirates battled till the end. Only rare quests let you capture them alive, and kills auto-added bounties.

Yet now in reality, survival trumps a pointless death in space's silence.

Or so I assumed?

She rolled her eye, "Sounds like idiots you've crossed… Damn, you're a bounty hunter, huh? That setup was a pro trap…"

I eased my blaster down slightly, dodging her query, "You're the first pirate I've seen give up so easy."

Not entirely false.

She snorted, "Must've run into the psychos, morons, or total failures. Argh… Bad luck hitting a seasoned merc on my debut run…"

"Wait, didn't you say this isn't your first outlaw group?"

"First pirates, sure, but not first criminals. Ran with smugglers before. Whole team nabbed and jailed; I dodged it by being off-ship. So even if you hand me over, three to five years tops. Never offed anyone."

Hmm… Explains her calm surrender.

I fully lowered my blaster, "Fine… I'll take your word for it now."

Suddenly, her arm darted, hurling something at my face, blocked by a faint blue shield that sprang up, much like with the previous pirate.

I saw she'd drawn her hidden blaster and fired point-blank to slay me.

She swore at the miss, and I fired from the hip with my blaster, unleashing the last three shots her way.

The pirate dodged sideways, evading the initial blast that whizzed by. Sadly, the following pair struck her gut, slamming her to the ground. Her weapon skittered away under a seat.

She moaned in agony, alive but fading fast.

I stowed my blaster and readied the rifle, closing in with it trained on her.

She raised a palm, "Wai--"

I fired twice more, putting two rounds in her skull.

I exhaled deeply and dropped the rifle's aim, disregarding my trembling grip.

Damn! Nearly got killed! Shit!!

Good thing the shield functions…

Freshly loading my blaster, I stepped past the fallen pirate to sweep the ship, finding it empty, so she hadn't lied there.

Back on my vessel, I sank into the pilot's chair, drawing on game recall to activate the main engines via the controls.

The panel glowed, and I navigated to display the map.

Three dreaded words blinked: "No Map Data"

In the game, newbie zones at least loaded basics… Though spawns were planetary, not orbital.

Alright, points to this being an entirely fresh universe. No issue, I'll manage.

The pirate craft must hold mappable info to steal, letting me plot next steps.

Oh… That sparks another snag… How to extract it from their system?

Wait a sec…

If the ship crossed from the game… Perhaps gear did too?

Then, players all get a Spacer Codex—SC or just Codex—which acts as our interface menu for digital stuff. Hack foes, shop markets, call NPCs like a comm device.

Essential player gadget!

Now, did mine transfer here? And where's it at?