During the raid on the pirate base, Eirik and his troopers had found a map with the locations of the different colonies on this planet and other planets, along with logbooks that hinted at a larger pirate fleet than initially anticipated. If the hints had any truth to them, these 6 ships were only a splinter group that had broken off from the main fleet to stay here and collect the tribute on behalf of their masters. further investigation was needed but now was not the time. The system was further out than Eirik had planned to start his own kingdom, but maybe he could make this work. It would solve an infrastructure problem that had been bugging him, namely feeding the people of an empire. But here he was looking at several prospecting colonies of free people from all races, spread out over several planets. The perfect blend of beings to found an empire, by everyone, for everyone.

With the level of protection he could offer and the much-needed bare necessities they could provide, it was almost a match made in heaven. Of course, there would be some logistics involved in first setting up the entire thing, posting a garrison in every colony, and making sure they did not abuse their power. Random and unscheduled inspections should go a long way. Same with private conversations with villagers, maybe through a liason, also connected to the village. Rotated yearly to prevent getting comfortable.

Making sure to be the one that got the word out to them about their newly acquired freedom from the pirates was a must if he wanted to build successful relations with these people in the near future. The training complex on the moon near the smuggler station would be fine as long as it was a training facility, the sheer number of troops present, fully trained or not, would deter anyone but a full military invasion force.

There was a possibility here. But it would have to be carefully monitored and would stretch his forces thin for another 6 months as new soldiers got trained to replace those placed on garrison duty. But every time soldiers finished their training, more instructors were picked out, increasing the number of people being trained simultaneously.

When the shuttles returned with the commando group, Eirik sought out Bjørn to get things moving. Together they walked to the bridge, Eirik speaking and Bjørn listening. One on the bridge, Eirik ordered the ship moving, on an intercept course with the 6 pirate vessels. Not trying to be stealthy resulted in them receiving communication attempts almost as soon as they left the asteroid swarm. "Put it on the main screen" Eirik directed.

A picture quickly popped into existence and Eirik was not surprised to see a Terran in command of the pirate ship. The idiot was dressed like he was going to a convention, with a Tri-corner hat, a long red coat adorned in gold buttons and trimmings, and a cutlass hanging on his hip.

"Surrender at once or face the wrath of our fleet. Attempt to land on the planet and hide and our ground forces will hunt you down and kill you. If you surrender, you have our word that we will not kill you. Life as a slave is better than death." The delusional moron intoned, but Eirik cut him off.

"Listen up fuck-stick. Your ground forces have been decimated, their base turned into rubble and the colonists are ready to shoot pirates on sight. If you do not surrender immediately, I'm going to send Bjørn here," Eirik patted the enormous man on the shoulder and saw the pirate Captain swallow hard on the screen. "To clean out your ship. The same goes for anyone else that does not surrender immediately. But do so peacefully and I promise you, not only freedom but also a job opportunity with a better prospect for retirement as a wealthy man than the one you currently face."

There was a moment of silence on the other end before Eirik got a reply. "We need to deliberate" Was all he heard before the connection was cut.

"Get to the others and load up on the boarding torps. There is a good chance I will need to send you all off at very short intervals. Thank fuck they are bunched up like that. They probably think it increases their defense. All it does is narrow down the firing arc required to hit everyone, make it difficult to run away with news of the enemy if you are defeated." Eirik said, more to himself than anyone, but Bjørn thought it was directed at him,

"Yes Captain, Right awa-" He began but was interrupted but the scuttling of claws against the metal floor.

"Captain, the commanding officer of the soldier we are to go and assist has been messaging me non-stop about when we will arrive. What do I tell him?" Trasti asked as he stood up from the floor.

Eirik pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes hard. He started mumbling to himself. "36 more hours here... 2 days to swing by the smuggler station and an additional 12 hours there. Then a further 3 days out..." Eirik opened his eyes and looked at Trasti. "Tell him 6 days, and I will have 500 battle-hungry soldiers getting inserted near his position to create a corridor through which we can get them out of the besieged position. 144 hours, and we will be there. Tell him that."

The screen flickered to life again and as Trasti scampered back towards the comm room, Bjørn made his way to the boarding torpedos, and the same Captain as before, this time covered in several shades of blood popped into view. "3 of us are going to accept the offer of surrender, we will be moving towards your ship momentarily, please do not open fire. The last ships cut communication when I mentioned your deal, but our scans show them powering up weapons. We will fight with you!" With that, the call was ended again and 3 of the pirate ships moved towards Eirik's ship. Not wanting to waste time, He began shouting orders,

"Get us moving, I want a firing solution for the boarding torpedos and I want to be on course for optimal firing solution by the time the computer has it figured out. David, It's time for the old wolf to finally stretch her claws again. Power down shields by 50% and activate all hidden weapons. I want to send a message with the first salvo on target. Hopefully, it will make them reconsider the foolishness of their situation."

Following orders, David started tapping away at his console and an almost magical transformation took place on the outside of the ship. Panels slid to the side and revealed hidden weaponry en masse. Railguns, missile systems, torpedo launchers, countless point-defense ballistic rotary guns, and laser systems packed in-between, not to mention the regular weaponry that was already presented on the ship. Increasing your firepower from light frigate to capital ship in less than 2 minutes is a feat that made most people stop and reconsider what lead them to this point in life.

1 of the pirate ships changed course at this, aiming to flee the battle. "That one. Make an example of him" Eirik said. He knew his engines were the most powerful out of all the ships here. Nobody was outrunning him in this battle. He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. Void battle had not happened in a while. But the old girl needed her share of the battles to stay happy. So he obliged, prepping his ship for the conflict.