“Commander.” a pirate that was a member of the boarding party of Ship 2 suddenly sent a holo.

“Yes?”

“We also captured the commander of this trading flotilla and he demands to talk with you, what shall we do?” the crew asked.

“I’ll handle it from here,” Ubel said as he sat back to his captain’s chair and sent his consciousness to control one of the droids inside Ship 2.

The crew who sent the holo was startled as the droid beside him started twitching and turning toward him. Then it spoke a familiar voice.

“Don’t worry, I’m currently controlling the droid. The ships are traveling so I can’t just dock myself on this ship.”

“C-commander!” the crew who was surprised at his arrival, saluted towards his proxy droid.

Then when he stepped onto the deck of the captured UGTR flagship while controlling a puppet’s body, he still couldn't help but feel a sense of triumph. He was greeted by the sight of his crew who secured the vessel.

“Well done, everyone, it was my first time to see such an expert display of ground combat.” he praised them with a sincere tone that was also filled with pride. Their faces lit up with satisfaction at his words. "We've just taken a significant step towards establishing ourselves as a force to be reckoned with in this sector."

And he turned to the man who was still restrained, whom he assumed to be the subject of the matter.

“Is he the guy?” Ubel asked.

“Y-yes commander.”

“Hmmm…” he scanned the man and found the details of the man in seconds of searching the records from the captured ship logs.

“Captain Geisler Ericht, it's a pleasure to meet you .” he addressed the man who was forced to kneel on the floor with his other surviving crew. Ubel in his droid proxy, sat on the floor in front of the man.

The man however had the face of shock, fear, and worry as he saw a droid talking down on him. Then he quickly recovered himself and replied.

“I didn’t know pirates have access to dolls…” the man muttered his sarcasm.

“Well, you do now.” Ubel countered.

“You know me. But I do not know you.” His voice was calm and composed despite the gravity of the situation.

“My name is Audubel Bladd Ulricht,” he answered. “I am the commander of these pirates.”

“Hmm…” Geisler eyed him warily, clearly still processing the fact that his fleet had been commandeered by a group of pirates. “I would have answered your introduction with a handshake but as you can see I am restrained so pardon by situation.”

“No offense taken.” Ubel parried his sarcasm again, lightly. “So you demanded my presence. What do you want me to hear from you?”

“I do not know who you are, but here in Sol… these kinds of actions will have consequences,” Geisler warned. "Though I must say, I didn't expect to find myself in this predicament when I set out on this journey. But my clients and employer would not be very pleased if they find that the delivery of their cargo has been sabotaged by a pirate."

“And?” Ubel was confused about what he was trying to do here.

“…” Geisler seemed to have been taken aback by the nonchalant reply.

“Commander, the man is trying to make a bargain.” one of his pirate crew cleared the confusion.

“Wait really?” Ubel was surprised at the revelation. He didn’t even know that the man was hinting at such a deal to happen between them. Then he gazed back to Geisler.

“We simply saw an opportunity and seized it. But I am willing to hear what you wanted to discuss, so please elaborate on how we can move forward from here.”

“I want the safety of my crew and the return of some cargo. The rest, you can plunder it as your own.” Geisler demanded. “In exchange, we will bear no bounty upon you. And treat this attack as a natural incident in traversing the belt.”

Ubel had become even more interested in that specific cargo. But he feels Geisler was not telling the whole truth. But he finds himself tempted to investigate these secrets instead of interrogating Geisler as such he decides to follow his gut.

Perhaps seeing the silence on Ubel, Geisler spoke out loud again, yielding to any ransom the pirate commander may demand.

"Very well," Geisler said. "What are your terms?"

Ubel however just stood up and responded with unexpected words.

“Unfortunately, I am not in a bargaining mood.” Ubel just shrugged in his robotic proxy.

“W-what?! Wai-”

“Please gag him,” Ubel commanded as his droids obediently followed his orders and silenced Geisler who was struggling in their restraints.

“You are allowed to shoot anyone who will try something funny or escape, although just shooting them on their legs is enough. We don’t want to spoil our plunder too much before they are sold.”

“Yes, commander.”

Ubel then walked towards the ship bridge where he was welcomed by several crew and droids when he arrived.

“Did you already inspect the goods we had gained?” he asked the command droid.

“The inspection is already 84% from completion.”

“Good, now could you give me access to this fleet’s black box?”

“Aye commander.” the droid then opened a digital window and sent it to Ubel. Normally, pirates don’t touch the black box because they don’t know how to access it and it would reveal their location, but thanks to his implants and droids, he could safely decrypt the lock on the black box without getting tracked by the authorities.