The Mercenary Contract
"Hahahaha! Yes! That Confedon bastard finally hauled his fat ass into motion!"
Jotala whooped with triumph in her office the moment word arrived that Confedon was leading his fleet out. And why wouldn't she? She had prepared for exactly this, seeding defensive installations along every approach an enemy was likely to take.
Space stretched vast above and below, but the destination was unmistakably her fortress, so laying down those defenses had never been difficult. Even if the enemy tried to swing wide, the radar net she had cast would let her call in the subordinates already pressing them and harass the detour at will. No matter which way they came, she held the high ground.
On top of that, Gebel's scheme had paid off far better than expected thanks to Jincheon, tipping the balance of force just enough in their favor.
"Unless some wild variable appears on the battlefield, our victory is certain. Hooo…"
Beside her, Gebel finished his situation report and ended it with a full-body shudder and a heavy sigh. The reason he looked so rough was simple: Jincheon had been staying in the fortress for days.
"Still scared of him?"
"Yes… It feels like living with a predator that will rip your head off the second it decides to open its jaws…"
Jotala had scanned Jincheon's face and run what research she could. By galactic standards he was a Terran — a race whose physical capabilities ranked mid-to-low. The Terra Federation itself was just one of the member states under the Taizan Federation, which the Elbania led. His skill as a pilot was clearly exceptional if he had taken down Jezer, but that alone did not explain a reaction this extreme from Gebel. Precisely because she had never seen him react this strongly, she had refused to make the mistake of treating a Terran lightly based on the usual data.
"For all that, he seems to be living pretty normally. If he really has that kind of power, shouldn't he be swaggering around?"
She muttered it under her breath, still unable to make the pieces fit.
"If he were just some monster who rampaged on raw strength, he would have reacted the moment he arrived. The fact that he only revealed his presence after seeing us face-to-face means he has complete control over that power."
"Hmm…"
She trusted Gebel's ability, yet the gap between someone who could feel it and someone who could not had never been clearer.
"Either way, we need to put a request to him. With the skill that dropped Jezer, he'll play a solid role here too."
Piracy, it turned out, was an expensive profession. You had to split the plunder with your crew, build amenities, keep them fed, buy weapons, and then there were repairs, maintenance, and a hundred other costs — not a single corner of the business ran free. But the profits from a good raid were enormous, and the sheer satisfaction of taking what you wanted by force instead of grinding for it was what turned a first-time pirate into a pirate for life.
Even so, because the size of your crew was the measure of your power, hiring a useful mercenary to cut down losses was a long-term win, even if it meant extra spending. No matter how favorable the war, casualties would come, and other pirate bands would be circling, waiting to tear into any opening.
"I'll handle the negotiation myself."
"Hooo~"
"…Do you have to look that happy about it?"
"Boss, you can't feel what I feel, so of course you'd say that…"
Normally Gebel handled these talks, but he refused to spend even a single second near Jincheon, so Jotala would go herself.
"Where are they now?"
"Aboard their own ship. They're outfitting it with the gear they bought from us. Looks like they saw through my intentions."
"So they can think after all. Should we just ask them to work with us permanently?"
This was a sci-fi world, full of science no one in the twenty-first century could have imagined, but the idea that every human was therefore brilliant was pure prejudice. Even with technology light-years beyond the old century, you still ran into people who screamed "Hyat-ha!" in a mohawk and made you wonder whether intelligence was involved at all.
Among pirates who mostly solved problems by smashing things, people who used their heads were valuable, so Jotala had seriously considered recruiting Jincheon's group — until Gebel spoke.
"Those aren't the eyes of someone who serves under anyone."
"Right? I thought the same."
This time she agreed with him completely. Years as a pirate boss had taught her to recognize it: Jincheon was not a man who would stand beneath someone else.
"I'll be back, then. Keep an eye on things and contact me the second anything looks off."
"Yes."
A Bio Device made communication trivial at any time, but coming in person and negotiating face-to-face was the etiquette of the age — a show of respect. Jotala was not yet a pirate powerful enough to stand on pride, and if a personal visit meant shaving even a little off the fee, she was ready to make it whenever necessary.
She stepped out of the office. Two pirates in power suits fell in behind her like machines. Escorted by her bodyguards, Jotala headed for the dock where Jincheon's group was using one of her berths and opened a channel on her Bio Device. Best to give them advance notice so they would have time to prepare.
"Hm? Who is it?"
Jincheon's hologram flickered up the moment the call connected; he tilted his head after answering. Fortunately this era had no spam calls (spam messages were still alive and well), so he had picked up at once.
"Hey. How've you been?"
"The landlord herself. The guest quarters were better than I expected, so I've been fine."
"Glad the effort paid off. I've got something to discuss, so I'm coming over. Got time?"
"Anytime. Though we could just talk here."
"For something important, coming in person is only polite, don't you think?"
"Hard to refuse when you're going that far. We're mid-maintenance on the ship, so come whenever you like."
Jincheon knew a personal visit was a mark of respect, and he had already guessed a mercenary offer was coming. He said he would wait on the ship and cut the call.
"Boss, isn't that guy a little too arrogant?"
One of the bodyguards frowned at Jincheon's manner and spoke up. Coming face-to-face was polite, yes — but when one side stayed put and the other did the traveling, it also felt like ceding the upper hand. Like a mid-sized company president calling on a corporate executive.
"He killed Jezer. A little arrogance is only natural. You know how badly Jezer beat us around."
"That's true, but…"
To the Jotala Family, Jezer Golmon had been the very definition of terror. Talent of his own, plus the high-speed mobile combat made possible by cybernetic surgery — no one in the family had been able to match that fighting power. The man who had beaten him was already operating at a level that would put him straight into B-class if he signed on as a mercenary.
"Don't stick your neck out."
"…Yes. Understood."
At Jotala's warning the bodyguard bowed his head.
When they reached Jincheon's dock, Jotala arrived at the small personnel hatch. From inside the ship came the whir and clank of machinery — weapons being mounted.
"I'm at the ship."
She opened the Bio Device again, stated the bare fact, and hung up. A moment later Jincheon opened the hatch and stepped into view.
"Inside or out?"
"Inside."
At her answer he led her to the lounge. Along the way she caught sight of the Garelds in the transport bay — no longer carrying only laser rifles, but fitted with additional armaments.
"Sorry the hospitality's a little thin."
"Doesn't matter. I'll get straight to the point."
There was no time to waste on small talk before the real business.
"The Confedon Family has gathered a fleet to hit us. I've already made preparations, but I want to keep unnecessary losses to a minimum."
"Because after the war you'll be easy prey for everyone else."
"Exactly."
Jincheon's side had already anticipated the situation, so the conversation stayed lean, fast, and clean.
"So how much do you want?"
"I'd like to know both sides' forces first."
"Roughly even. Two battleships, six cruisers, twenty destroyers, twenty-five corvettes. One hundred seventeen mechas. Thanks to our scheme succeeding, we hold a slight numerical edge."
For reference, a war between nations would jump to more than ten times those numbers. When a true power like the Elbania Kingdom or the Dragonian Empire concentrated its forces in one place, the scale ran to hundreds of times this. At the present size, it was a small war.
From the look of it, the enemy wants a short decisive fight. This is going to be short and brutal…
"Four hundred thousand credits."
"That much we can—"
"Per person on our side."
"…"
At the demand for a total of one million two hundred thousand credits, Jotala had no choice but to shut her mouth. That kind of money could buy more than ten E-class mechas.
"You dropped Jezer, so calling your own price four hundred thousand is fair. I'll grant that. But I don't see that kind of value in your subordinates."
"The one from Zabalcan is Calsira. She's better than I am. The Orobece is Heliane — she's fought across countless battlefields as a member of the Anti-Zabalcan Alliance. Both are experienced veterans who've seen more wars than most."
Finding her objection reasonable, Jincheon laid out their records.
"If you're still not satisfied, I'll add a condition. If my people each fail to take down six or more mechas, we'll take only one hundred thousand credits per person — myself included."
If Calsira and Heliane each failed to destroy six or more mechas, the one million two hundred thousand would drop to three hundred thousand. Jotala judged that even if Jincheon's group succeeded, results on that scale would more than justify the pay.
"Plenty of confidence. Fine. Make sure the two of them record their combat feeds before the fight. Payment after verification."
"Deal."
They found their common ground and sealed the contract. The one problem was the lack of a written document — it was a verbal agreement — but Jincheon was unconcerned.
If they don't pay, I'll just take one million two hundred thousand credits' worth out of them.
He had already seen their armory while buying pirate weapons. Walking in and looting that much in arms and ammunition would be simple enough.
"When does the job start?"
"Right now. My people are gathering at this point. My flagship won't be ready until tomorrow, so I'll join a little late."
"You're coming in person?"
"Of course. An army's one thing — we're pirates. A boss who only gives orders from somewhere safe, no matter how competent, collapses fast."
She transmitted map data for their territory and the surrounding space, including every defensive installation. The site was two days out — two days because Jincheon's transport was Calsorn Empire tech; any other ship would have taken three or four.
Hm?
Looking over the data, Jincheon raised one eyebrow.
Isn't this defensive line a little too wide?
In three-dimensional space where you could move any direction, a broad line made sense — but this felt excessive. If a fight started at one end of the line, the forces at the opposite end would need a full hour just to arrive.
Well, that Gebel guy looks sharp. He probably handled it.
Jincheon filed the map data away, trusting Gebel had known what he was doing.
"Food and water are running low, so we'll resupply those and leave immediately."
"I'll tell my people. They'll deliver straight into the ship. And yes — I'll be charging you."
"Don't worry. I'm not about to act like the job entitles me to freebies."
Once he had confirmed every detail of the request, Jincheon bought food and water from the pirates, cast off at once, and briefed everyone on the contract.
"…That's the job."
"A war, huh… Taking part for a proper fee feels strangely new."
"Four hundred thousand credits each. Once we reach Keren we can buy high-end weapons or upgrade the Garelds."
Calsira and Heliane, who had followed Jincheon into the mercenary life, both looked satisfied with the terms. After sharing the remaining necessary intelligence, Jincheon checked over his own Gareld.
Until now it had been a bare-bones machine with nothing but a single laser rifle. That had changed completely. A 95mm rail machine gun and a laser rifle now occupied the left and right of the Gareld's back, and a compact seven-shot missile pod sat on the left shoulder. At the hip, the hilt of the laser sword taken from Jezer was locked firmly in place.
Calsira and Heliane had each fitted a 95mm rail machine gun as well, but instead of the seven-tube missile pods they had chosen weapons to their own tastes. Calsira, who thrived in chaotic melees, had mounted a four-hundred-round machine gun on her left arm. Heliane, rich in close-combat experience, had bought a heat axe and a dual-composite Caladin-titanium shield. Caladin was a new material humanity had discovered after expanding into space — an ore found at the cores of asteroids that, when alloyed with other metals, made them both lighter and harder, and was therefore used in most weapon fabrication.
All three of them, who had once had to stake everything on laser rifles alone, now wore easy smiles even at the prospect of war. Their own hard-won skill, the performance of the Garelds, and the new armaments together were enough to turn even an unfavorable situation around.
"With this kind of payday we can live easy in Keren."
Since the fight with Jezer, Jincheon had grown still more fluent at the controls. He expected this war would be another easy win. And yet the vast defensive line he had just seen kept flickering at the edge of his thoughts.
"Everyone, come here."
"Why? Kyaa!"
"What is it— mmph?!"
Thinking about it now would change nothing, so he simply pulled Calsira and Heliane into his arms and kissed them without warning. The great flaw of open space was how long it took to get anywhere else — and Jincheon had begun turning that flaw into an advantage by his own methods.
The news that Jezer was dead had hit Confedon hard as well. He had never imagined a mere mercenary escorting some black-market trader could take the man down.
The people he had sent to find fuel for the generators still needed more time to return. He had hit the smugglers just to buy even a little more of it — and who could have guessed Jezer would fall that way? Within a month every system in the fortress would shut down, and Jotala would strike the moment the defenses went dark.
"Don't make me laugh, Jotala. I will never bow to the likes of you."
Cornered, Confedon stood on the bridge of his flagship and watched the fleet moving around him with the eyes of a savage beast. The Confedon Family was only a mid-tier pirate band. But he himself was a man who had climbed from the bottom and built this power with his own hands. Surviving this long in the Beacon Star System — where the weak simply died — was proof enough of what he could do.
"You must be thrilled, having me against the wall. You think you've already won."
The wounded beast that was Confedon bit down on his triangular mouth full of sharp teeth and growled.
"I'll make you understand how wrong you are. And I will collect the blood debt for Jezer — no matter what."
Jezer had been a subordinate who followed him to the end, a comrade, a brother in all but blood. Offers had come from larger powers; he had refused every one and chosen to walk the same road. This fight was a territorial war with Jotala, a campaign of revenge, and a requiem all at once.
Confedon threw everything he had into the advance, driving straight toward the encirclement of Jotala's domain.