Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 10
The fighter was launched into space, and Alois felt dizzy for a moment. The radar and various data on the screen, combined with the sudden sensation of weightlessness, left him fumbling for a while. Fortunately, this was in zero gravity space; otherwise, he would have crashed long ago. Alois pulled up the fighter, circling the “mothership” once. Leo had set up several stationary targets nearby, which wouldn’t move or attack. This was beginner-level practice. Alois silently scoffed at Leo’s low expectations of him. After easily destroying a few targets, he started to regain his feel for piloting the fighter.
Soaring freely in the universe… This had been Alois’s fervent dream in his youth. But after being toyed with by fate repeatedly, he had given up on this dream. However, now it seemed he had stumbled closer to it by chance.
His hand trembled slightly on the control stick. Leo’s voice echoed in his ear. “Next, I’ll increase the difficulty. If you’re shot down by a simulated enemy, I swear you’ll become the laughingstock of the entire ship.”
Several red dots appeared on the radar, quickly approaching Alois.
“Bring it on.” Alois maneuvered the fighter towards the targets. They circled around him like flies, but still didn’t attack. Within seconds, they disintegrated into cosmic dust.
The next opponents were three Godot Type I fighters, Empire-made. They were inferior in both speed and firepower to the Godot Type II and had been retired from the Empire fleet, used only by some civilian shipping companies for escort. To Alois, who had regained his skill, the three fighters were like slow-moving old men, posing no threat. After sending them to the cosmic scrap heap, Leo’s voice reappeared.
“You’re doing quite well,” the AI said with a hint of surprise. “I’m impressed, family member.”
“I have a name!”
“Ah, Joanna is here.”
The space scene on the screen turned to static, and the simulated weightlessness disappeared. Alois opened the simulator pod door and stuck his head out. The training room was bustling with activity; the crew seemed very interested in this match. Joshua was among them, his arms crossed, with the black cat Schrödinger hanging around his neck like a scarf. The assassin’s black-gold eyes were fixed on Alois’s pod, and when he noticed Alois looking back, he quickly averted his gaze.
Alois grunted.
The crowd stirred slightly as the red-haired female pirate entered the training room, like Moses parting the Red Sea. A simulator pod opened, and Joanna jumped in lightly. “Don’t get distracted, family member.” Her voice came through the speaker. “If you lose, I’ll have Leo play the footage of your defeat on repeat during dinner.”
“Don’t, Captain! Didn’t you promise to let me choose the program?” the AI protested loudly.
Alois closed the pod door and restarted the fighter system, silently cursing the female pirate for being so ruthless.
“Alright, let me explain the rules of your duel,” Leo said. “You belong to two opposing destroyers, encountering each other in battle. The one who shoots down the other’s fighter or mothership wins. Both of you have the same amount of energy. When it’s depleted, the match ends. If neither side is shot down, it’s a draw. Understood?”
“Understood,” Alois said.
“Understood,” Joanna replied.
“I’ll now cut off your communication channels. No chatting during the fight.” Leo paused. “And no talking to me either.”
“Who has the time for that?” Alois frowned. But the communication channel was already cut off, leaving only static noise in the speaker. The screen showed a 5-second countdown. He gripped the control stick tightly, took a deep breath, and as the countdown hit zero, the simulated fighter was launched into space with a huge thrust.
This time, Alois quickly took control of the fighter. He maneuvered it around a few times, and the radar showed an enemy target approaching. He turned on the optical telescope to get a look at Joanna’s fighter. What he saw made him gasp.
“Typical woman.” He shook his head.
Fighters used for space combat often had structures modeled after insects. Nature’s incredible designs gave insects perfect proportions; mimicking them allowed fighters to maintain balance in the zero-gravity void of space, avoiding being thrown off by thrusters and particle turbulence. For instance, the Empire Godot Type I mimicked a dragonfly, while the Godot Type II borrowed from a moth.
However, the “Bard” that Joanna was piloting was vastly different from the mainstream insect-like designs. It had a streamlined body, thrusters hidden under the wings, and evenly distributed beam cannons and missiles resembling feathers on its wings. It lacked the terrifying steel skeletons and black mesh insulation layers. The silver shell covered the body. Neo Venice’s pinnacle technology made the “Bard” look like a bird flapping its wings, freely flying among the stars.
The “Bard” looked more like a concept machine from an exhibition than a combat model. Under normal circumstances, Alois might have marveled at its technological brilliance, but the rapidly approaching red dot on the radar told him that the “Bard” wasn’t just an art piece but a lethal weapon.
Alois deftly dodged the “Bard’s” laser beam. The two fighters brushed past each other, weaving a large “8” in space. The unique aspect of the Godot Type II lay in its agility and speed; its high sensitivity made it a battlefield sprite but also difficult to operate, easily going out of control. Many pilots deliberately lowered the sensitivity parameters, making the fighter easier to control but sacrificing its greatest advantage. Therefore, the Empire Arsenal quickly introduced a modified version, sacrificing speed for increased firepower, making the Godot Type II Modified easier to handle.
Veteran pilots preferred the original Godot Type II, as skilled pilots could turn this agile machine into a deadly assassin. It would suddenly appear beside you in the chaos of battle, attack, and then vanish, leaving you unable to catch even the particle trail from its engines.
Alois considered himself the best student of his class at the military academy. Even his flight instructor praised him, saying, “You will become the ace pilot of the Empire’s fleet one day.” He controlled the Godot Type II better than any other student.
After successfully dodging several attacks, Alois launched a counterattack. The laser beam shot towards the beautiful “Bard”. He expected to hit at least once, but the female pirate seemed to anticipate his attack path, effortlessly dodging the beam, like a swan dancing gracefully on a lake.
The Godot Type II relentlessly pursued, and the two fighters engaged in a tangled battle, making it hard to tell who shot first or whose beams were flying in all directions. In space, a breathtaking game of cat and mouse unfolded. Alois pushed Joanna towards the side of the mothership, sustaining several hits himself, his fighter heavily damaged.
The “Bard” was also a high-speed model. Initially, Joanna could control it with ease, but as Alois tightened his pursuit, her overly aggressive maneuvers made the fighter’s responses sluggish. Luckily, she knew the Godot Type II’s capabilities and could almost predict his next move in the chase. The “Bard” broke away from the side of the mothership, looped in an S-shape, trying to create distance, but was tightly followed.
“So persistent!” The female pirate, used to quick victories, found this exhausting. She planned to end it in one decisive move. The “Bard” was equipped with armor-piercing missiles, needing just one hit to finish the enemy. While dodging, she brought up the missile targeting system, aimed at the Godot Type II during a spin, and pressed the launch button.
Two missiles flew towards Alois! He pulled up the fighter, avoiding one, but the other grazed a wing. The cockpit flashed red, the word “DANGER” on the screen indicated one engine was damaged. The system advised initiating the escape procedure, with the escape pod detaching to return to the mothership.
“No way!” Alois shut down two engines to maintain balance. The remaining engines greatly reduced the Godot Type II’s speed, making it slower than even the most basic civilian escort ships. He could only barely dodge the flying beams. Joanna took advantage, pushing Alois to the other side of the mothership. With two more missiles, she could easily finish off the Godot Type II.
Alois gritted his teeth and activated his missile targeting system. While his missiles were armor-piercing, they lacked the firepower of the “Bard” and couldn’t auto-track targets. He wasn’t skilled in sniping and couldn’t guarantee a direct hit. If the missile missed, Joanna’s next laser would pierce him.
He could almost imagine the female pirate’s triumphant smile. In fact, Joanna was indeed smiling. She pressed the launch button again, sending two missiles towards Alois. His fighter turned slightly, as if in a desperate struggle. Then the Godot Type II also fired a missile.
Was he relying on luck? The female pirate raised an eyebrow in doubt. Her missiles hit Alois’s fighter, causing it to burst into flames and turn into a charred metal mass. But to her surprise, Alois’s missile didn’t fly towards her; it struck the side of the mothership, piercing through in less than a second!
Joanna stared in disbelief at the red text flashing on the screen: “MOTHERSHIP SUNK”.
The simulator pod’s lights dimmed, the screen turned to static, and the pod door slowly opened.
The female pirate stumbled out of the simulator, looking incredulously at Alois, who climbed out of his pod dejectedly.
“Hey, you actually sank the mothership.” She said lightly, “In a 1v1 duel, we usually only target fighters, not the mothership.”
The young man shrugged. “But I treated it as a war. In war, I’m a soldier, a part of the military machine, always ready to sacrifice myself for a greater mission. And you’re a pirate.” Then he shook his head in disappointment. “But what’s the use of saying this? I was shot down first. I lost.” He looked unwillingly at the crowd, and Joanna followed his gaze to see the silver-haired assassin, the Mourner.
The female pirate chuckled softly. “Oh dear, what should we do now?” She patted Alois on the shoulder. “Forget all that military theory! From now on, you need to learn how to be a pirate!”
“…Huh?”
“I’m saying you’re hired, Alois Lagrange.” Joanna pushed him into the crowd, still dazed. The crew shook his hand, congratulating him on joining. Alois’s expression slowly turned from confusion to joy. He was jostled towards the training room door, with the excited Ibb Descartes rushing up to pat his back. “Great job, brother! I knew you could do it!”
Joanna watched Alois being surrounded by the crew, lost in thought. ‘Soldiers,’ she mused. ‘I’m a space pirate, but I was once a soldier too.’
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