"Seems like there aren't many formidable mercenary corps in Ordent." He commented from the bridge as he observed the ships skulking in the star system.
The Scarlet Rose detected seven light carriers spread out in three different groups across the star system.
None of them happened to be within a light-hour of the Scarlet Rose, which meant that Ves did not have to worry about interception.
Though one pair of light carriers actually possessed a head-start on the Scarlet Rose due to their relative motion, Ves did not worry too much.
He called up an interface and performed some quick calculations.
As long as the Scarlet Rose immediately started flying away, it would take far more than the time required to cycle of her FTL drive for the mercenaries to catch up with his ship.
In short, unless the FTL drive or propulsion system malfunctioned, he was safe.
"Well, I shouldn't be too complacent." He shook his head. "I can't forget about hidden threats."
Just like before, he engaged the active sensors and dialed them up to full power.
The Scarlet Rose would definitely be able to detect stealthed mines and vehicles in advance!
Once he issued the necessary commands, he sat back and observed the local situation for a time.
"If nothing unexpected happens, I won't face any threats."
Ves found it notable that he hadn't encountered any pursuers from the Friday Coalition yet. After reading Aisling's correspondence, he wasn't surprised by their absence.
Right now, the Komodo War forced the Coalition to retract most of its peripheral assets.
After Operation K, the partners of the Coalition became so alarmed that its leader reflexively recalled at least half of the assets stationed abroad!
Unless the Hexers invested more assets in a foreign state for some reason, the Fridaymen weren't inclined to waste their own assets.
Reading the messages and documents stored in Aisling's archive gave Ves a sporadic understanding of the war situation, particularly in the perspective of the Gauge Dynasty.
As the most powerful partner of the Coalition, the Gauge Dynasty became known for its domineering posture. It always aimed to be the best in anything and often competed against the other partners in many different competitions.
Yet as soon as the Komodo War broke out, the Gauge Dynasty quickly abandoned this posture and instead adopted a more diplomatic and conciliatory stance!
Though the other partners such as the Konsu Clan and the Vermeer Group knew that the Gauge Dynasty was only lowering its head due to the greater threat, they cooperated anyway.
They had no other choice! As long as the Gauge Dynasty offered an abundant amount of help, the state that was famous for its internal division would shed its biggest weakness!
It was pure fantasy to think that the partners of the Friday Coalition would continue to squabble amongst themselves while threatened by the Hexers!
While Ves mused about the Komodo War, the Scarlet Rose quietly remained out of reach of her pursuers long enough until her FTL drive finished cycling.
The moment the ship transitioned back to FTL, Ves finally relaxed.
In the next week or so, the Scarlet Rose repeated this routine. Each time, the ship emerged in a star system patrolled by at least two or more outfits.
In none of those cases did the stolen ship come anywhere close to to these hostile bounty hunters.
Though the mercenaries transmitted all kinds of threats and offers to the Scarlet Rose, Ves did not even bother going through them. As long as his ship left the star system, it was unlikely that any of his pursuers could keep up with his ship!
The tech and quality disparity between their ships was simply too big!
Even the swift, third-class corvettes were unable to match the speed of the Scarlet Rose, let alone the Barracuda!
By the time the Scarlet Rose left the territory of the Ordent Republic and crossed into the space claimed by the Great Zona Republic, Ves made it through a fourth of his journey without encountering any threats.
Ves did not expect the good times to last.
"Great Zona is very different from Ordent." He observed. "While it's close to the Friday Coalition, this aggressive state has always pushed the boundaries and conquered a lot of neighboring states on flimsy excuses."
If not for the rebel groups stirring up trouble in its conquered territories, Great Zona would have continued its conquest spree until it rivalled the Sentinel Kingdom in might and territorial acquisitions!
As it was, Great Zona's instability provided fertile ground for many pirates, mercenaries and other scum.
Ves immediately experienced the difference between Ordent and Great Zona as his ship immediately sounded the alarm upon transitioning back to real space!
He expected to encounter the same scattered presences as before.
Instead, the Scarlet Rose emerged at a point in space that was very close to a formidable-looking mercenary corps!
"Five light carriers, all part of the same fleet!" Ves gasped! "And they're all close!"
The local plot quickly updated with more information as the sensors captured more data.
All five light carriers had instantly started to close in on the Scarlet Rose!
According to the Scarlet Rose's estimates, the fleet would come into combat range within 40 minutes, which was far too soon for the Scarlet Rose to escape back into FTL!
Ves was in true trouble this time!