Chapter 70

"This is Cat One. Taiki, your line is sloppy. You’re drifting right."

The voice crackled over the comms. Taiki gave a sharp click of his tongue and engaged BISHOP to micro-adjust his trajectory. His fighter—a craft defined by its distinctively spherical hull—responded instantly, spitting a brief, precise burst from its attitude control thrusters.

"Cat Two, copy that. Hey, Cat One, our friend over here is a big one. Have we ever tangled with a whale this size before?"

"This is Cat One. Who knows? I feel like that piece of junk we scrapped back in the Izario Star System was even bigger."

"No way. That was just a heap of bolts. This is a proper warship. I’m getting a real bad vibe from this, man."

"Whatever. Our job stays the same. We haul the goods, we deliver the goods. Doesn't matter if the target is a mountain or a molehill. The old-timer and the kid already moved up. Don’t get left behind."

"Roger. Tell them to save a slice for me."

Taiki checked his radar screen, confirming his two wingmen had entered their bombing run, then slammed the throttle forward to follow. Countless beams began to erupt from the enemy’s large-scale WIND. Taiki wove through the fire, relying on his honed reflexes and BISHOP’s lightning-fast processing to dance between the light.

"This is Cat Three. Took out a turret."

"Nice work, Cat Three. RTB immediately. One pass isn't going to be enough to finish this thing off."

"This is Cat Three, copy. Ah, damn, the kid missed his mark."

"Cat Two, target change. Forget Cat Three’s mark—aim for the engines!"

"Cat Two, copy. On my way."

Taiki banked hard, abandoning his original flight path to scream toward the enemy’s stern. The WIND’s debris incineration lasers flared to life, but his shields held firm. He narrowed his eyes at the pale, shimmering aurora produced by the shield's interference—a beautiful sight, no matter how many times he saw it.

"Beam drop. Don't let me down now."

The words were a quiet mumble to himself, his comms keyed off. A massive surge of energy erupted from the beam launcher mounted to Taiki's ship, slamming into the WIND's engine block with catastrophic force. The launcher was a disposable, one-shot toy, but it packed the punch of a frigate’s main battery.

"Boo-yah! You see that, Cat One? Bullseye!"

"This is Cat One. Hard to miss. Can’t let you show me up, can I?"

Taiki pulled into a tight, careful turn, hugging the enemy's blind spots. With the heavy launcher discarded, his ship felt light and nimble, accelerating with newfound violence.

"One or two more runs and this thing is history."

The WIND on his display was a shadow of its former self. The momentum it had used to terrorize the merchant ships had evaporated; it was now reduced to spitting out desperate, sporadic fire from its few remaining turrets.

"Seriously though, what kind of moron carves a route through here? There are WINDs freaking everywhere."

"This is Cat One. Beats me. 'Politics,' probably. It’s got nothing to do with us. If anything, we should thank them for the job security."

"I guess... Hey, old-timer. You know the gossip on this?"

"This is Cat Three. It all started with that scrap between the EAP and the White Dingo, but they probably would’ve opened this route eventually anyway. With their own Imperial Direct Route, the EAP doesn't have to play nice with the White Dingo anymore."

"Makes sense. But isn't that war supposed to be over? Moving the entire supply chain this fast seems crazy. You’d think they’d transition slowly."

"Taiki, you clearly don't understand the soul of a merchant. The New Route cuts the travel time to the EAP down significantly. It’s only a twenty percent gain, but those vultures know how to turn a sliver into a mountain of profit. The kid probably knows the business side better than me."

"Hear that, kid? What’s your take?"

"This is Cat Four! I’m in the middle of a bombing run, talk later! And stop calling me a kid!"

"Ooh, scary, scary. Don’t get your panties in a twist. It’s fine if you miss again anyway."

"Cat Four... why is that?"

"Because we’ll show you what a real bombing run looks like afterward!"

"Hah! Eat shit!"

Taiki smirked at his console and focused on the approaching mothership. The frigate piloted by Cat One was already streaming docking data to his computer.

"The last thing I need is to survive the fight and die during the landing."

Taiki initiated the auto-docking sequence, making manual micro-adjustments as he drifted into the hangar. Once his relative velocity hit zero, a robotic arm reached out to his hull, clutching a fresh beam launcher.

"Alright. Let's go for round two."

Taiki pulled a zero-point turn, pointing his nose back toward the hangar exit.

He had zero doubt the next shot would land. And, as it turns out, he was right.

"Rising Sun? Never heard of 'em. What are they, some new startup?"

With the battle over, the crew had returned to the station, cashed in their bounties, and migrated to their usual watering hole.

They were fairly well-known bounty hunters in Katsushika, but occasionally, strangers would cast curious glances their way. Usually, it only took one look from the Boss or the kid to make them awkwardly stare at their drinks instead.

"They’re new, but they’re growing like a weed. They aren't part of the Alliance, but they're basically in bed with the EAP," Yuki, the old-timer, muttered between bites of food.

"Exactly," Cha, the kid, added while gnawing on the straw of his cocktail. "Either they have serious connections, or there’s a total genius at the top. They clearly saw the WIND chaos coming. They started running trade with armed ships before anyone else even realized there was a problem."

Taiki snorted. "Being smart is great and all, but do they have any spine? I’m not working for some fat-cat suit who hides behind a desk."

Gon, the Boss, set his drink down. "I wouldn't worry about that. Word is, during the fight that ended the EAP-Dingo conflict, the guy charged the enemy line in a single ship. He basically grabbed the Dingo by the scruff of the neck and forced a surrender."

"In his own ship? Damn. The guy sounds like a total lunatic."

"Maybe. But it's more than that. The Guns have joined their Union. If even Bella gives the guy her seal of approval, he’s probably worth our time."

Taiki let out a thoughtful grunt. They had worked with Guns and Rule before and knew Bella’s reputation. She’d held the Alpha Star System together with a skeleton crew; they respected her.

"What about the perks? They said the company covers 'labor compensation.' Is that for real?" Cha asked.

"Yeah," the Boss nodded. "Apparently, they’ve already made payouts to the families of guys who didn't make it. That's on top of the standard insurance."

"Whoa. That’s bold. Won't the company go bankrupt if they have a bad week?"

"It just means they’re sitting on a mountain of credits. Look at this—this is the salary and benefits package they offered us. Try not to choke."

The Boss pulled a data chip from his pocket. The three of them crowded around to read the display, and a collective gasp went up.

"Holy hell. What's the catch? There’s always a catch."

"This is more than double the industry standard," the old-timer whispered. "And it says we have 'full discretionary freedom' in the field?"

"They’re not treating us like a bunch of hired guns," Cha noted. "They're treating us like a corporation. This is basically a corporate acquisition."

"Now you see why I brought it up," the Boss said. "They’re offering us a king’s ransom. And they backed it up with a genuine Imperial-Approved Contract."

The table went silent, the group exchanging stunned looks. They were all searching for the trap, but an Imperial-Approved Contract was the gold standard. Breaking one was a fast track to total annihilation; it was the one thing you could actually trust.

"I mean... I've got no complaints so far. But still—"

"We won't know for sure until we look the guy in the eye, right?" the Boss finished, cutting Taiki off. "I figured you’d say that, so I already set up a meeting. You guys in?"

Nobody said a word. They didn't have to.