Translator's Note: I don't own this story, or anything in it, but the work I put into translating it and posting it. The people/companies below are the ones responsible for the story. I have cross-posted this on archiveofourown under the same name. That version has the art work embeded in it, as I can't put the artwork here. I will post a link in this format "i *dot* imgur *dot* com *forward-slash* WHATEVER*dot* png".

Asahi Shimbun Publications

Miniskirt Space Pirates

Written by Yuichi Sasamoto

Illustrations by Noriyuki Matsumoto

Translated by AkiraTepes (me)

(Cover art at "i *dot* imgur *dot* com *forward-slash* 4hrolcd *dot* png)

(Chapter header art at "i *dot* imgur *dot* com *forward-slash* AE8TYr2 *dot* png")

"Space pirates huh?"

An upturned voice echoed through the observation lounge, where contemporary music played at a subdued volume.

"You don't know?"

A well-tailored man in a suit raised his cocktail glass a little.

"You don't believe in them?"

"Because pirates are just a legend, aren't they?"

A young woman in a revealing cocktail dress nodded her head in agreement with her short-cut companion.

"I heard that they were exterminated so long ago that you have to go to the middle of nowhere to find them."

"Oh, you don't know the name of this route?"

The young man looked around at the faces of the two women.

"The Western Galactic Corridor, the outer route, has been called the Pirate's Corridor for a long time."

"It was called that a long time ago, wasn't it?"

The long-haired woman in the cocktail dress laughs.

"Pirates nowadays, huh?"

Hearing the young woman's voice as they looked at each other, the suited man gulped down a dry martini from his cocktail glass.

"If that's the case, you guys are in for an interesting experience."

He put down his glass and pulled out a classical pocket watch from the pocket inside his suit. With a push of a button, detailed data such as galactic standard time and ship's time appeared on the display.

"I think it's about to start."

'This is an announcement from the Wheelhouse.'

After a light chime, a classical announcement was played on the ship.

'The luxury liner, Princess Apricot, has just completed her twelfth FTL drive and has arrived at Galactic Corridor West 37 as scheduled.'

Even in the main hall, which looks like a palace floating on a sea of stars and is intentionally decorated with many designs of the old century, an announcement is heard, but without image information.

'The ship is now at post 37,98D west of the Galactic Corridor and will soon approach the Red Giant, Lambador. All systems are operating normally and there is no change in the schedule for the next FTL drive in 10 hours or the arrival at the next port of call, Mithril 30. The main hall will soon be open for late-night operations. Passengers are invited to continue to enjoy the starry voyage aboard the Princess Apricot.'

Suddenly, electronic noises mingled with the announcements that were playing in the main hall, where live dance music was being played and a ball was being held this evening. A loud and unpleasant noise cut through the speakers.

The live music stopped.

'What? You've already done it? Is it ready? What, it's connected!?'

The calm baritone of the attendant was replaced by a strangely breathy soprano.

'Oh, excuse me, this is the Bentenmaru, the pirate ship Bentenmaru.'

The first-class passengers who were enjoying the ball in the main hall cheered.

'I am Captain Marika of the pirate ship Bentenmaru. I am the pirate ship captain, Captain Marika Marika.'

A faltering voice announced. The audience erupted in applause.

'The Bentenmaru has completed its electronic attack on the Princess Apricot, a luxury liner of the Five Star Line. All systems of the Princess Apricot, including her navigation systems, are now under The Bentenmaru's control.'

There was a pause that included a laugh.

'To put it simply, the Princess Apricot has been taken over by the pirate ship Bentenmaru.'

Applause and cheers swirled through the main hall.

'Ronald Harley, captain of the Princess Apricot, please hurry up and prepare your tribute to the pirates. The Bentenmaru's Class 40 main guns have already targeted the Princess Apricot's bridge and engines, so there is no point in running away or resisting.'

The couple in the cocktail dresses looked at the young man as if to say, "Hey, what's going on?"

'Well then, Captain Marika of the pirate ship Bentenmaru and her crew will now board the luxury liner Princess Apricot. As long as you don't resist, we have no intention of hurting you, so please have your valuables ready and wait for the pirates to board!'

In the main hall of the Princess Apricot, a muffled emergency alarm sounded out, completely untimely and loudly. At the same time, the protective shutters of the observation dome on the ceiling, which had been closed for safety while the ship was cruising at superluminal speed, slowly opened.

As the protective shutters with ceiling paintings based on interstellar mythology opened, the seamless bubble dome, which cut 100 percent of harmful rays of light and radiation other than visible light, projected a panorama of galaxies spreading across the sky.

Against a Milky Way-like galaxy in the background, a sharp-edged black-hulled pirate ship approaches, flashing its navigational lights on flexible arms extended on both sides. Several laser beams from the pirate ship scanned the white hull of the luxury liner Princess Apricot as if licking it at high speed.

The pirate battleship, which had been built for battle and had passed through many battles, seemed to assert its silhouette and color as it entered a forced docking position, holding the white hull of the palace-like luxury liner floating on a sea of stars from above.

Vibrations were felt in the hull of the Princess Apricot as if a heavy harpoon had been driven into the ship.

"Are they really pirates!?"

The woman with long hair mutters as she looks up at the silhouette of a pirate ship floating beyond the observation dome. The docking bridge begins to extend from the bottom of the pirate ship, bathed in the light of the multiple searchlights cast by the Princess Apricot.

"It's the real thing."

The young man placed the empty glass on the counter and put the closed pocket watch back into the inside pocket of his well-tailored suit.

"The space pirate ship Bentenmaru. They're a space pirate with a charter to snatch and seize ships. Pirates operating in the territory of the Galactic Empire are an endangered species."

There is no way to resist when the Princess Apricot has been hijacked. The white luxury liner opened its gate to accept a docking bridge from a black pirate ship much smaller than itself.

"I can't believe they're pirates, don't you think there's at least a security force aboard this ship!?"

For a luxury liner of this size, a security force is organized on board as a police force, albeit a small one. The captain is the commander in chief, and the members wear uniforms and patrol the ship but carry no conspicuous weapons so as not to remind the passengers of the real world.

"Yes, I'm told that a platoon of highly skilled soldiers from a mercenary company is aboard in case of emergency."

The young man stood up from the counter and turned to the grand staircase leading down to the main hall. Passengers boarding the Princess Apricot from the port would first look down the grand staircase to the massive main hall. Then, at the end of the landing at the top of the grand staircase, the boarding deck is now closed off to the airtight walls made up of colorful murals decorated with the balls of the gods in mythological times.

"But a platoon won't help us. They are real pirates who can go toe-to-toe with the Imperial fleet."

"Such as …"

The woman with long hair stares fearfully at the airtight wall at the end of the grand staircase.

"What's going to happen to us!?"

"As long as you stay quiet and don't do anything stupid, there's nothing to worry about."

The young man leaned against the counter with one hand.

"You may be asked to hand over some jewelry, but don't worry, the shipping company will cover it all later on."

The women with the long hair and the short cut looked at each other in relief.

Without warning, all the lights in the main hall were dimmed. The main hall, which was now only illuminated by the searchlights illuminating the black pirate ship floating beyond the observation dome on the ceiling and the light of the galaxy leaking through the cracks, was filled with the sound of an unidentifiable motor and the explosion of compressed air being blown in.

The roar came from behind the mural of the Ball of the Gods at the top of the grand staircase in the main hall. The ballroom mural, a mosaic of countless crystalline fragments, slowly begins to open upward with a loud, exaggerated sound of movement. Water vapor, thermally expanded by compressed air blown into the boarding deck from the docking bridge connected in the vacuum of space, flows out into the main hall, illuminated by the lights on the boarding deck side. Shadows of people emerge against the white lights.

Behind the airtight wall, which is supposed to be opened only when the ship arrives at a port, there are pirates. Shadows of all shapes and sizes, in groups with sharply angled equipment, appear as silhouettes in front of the passengers in the main hall.

Spotlights were turned on from the other side of the main hall. The pirates advanced to the stage on the landing above the grand staircase.

The passengers let out a thunderous cheer. A large cyborg man with a missile launcher in one hand and a large anti-armor rifle in the other, and a girl with a large beam gun at her waist, wearing an interesting mini-skirted captain's uniform, followed behind the fully equipped powered suit that looked like a small mountain.

"I am Marika, captain of the Bentenmaru."

Looking over the main hall from the top of the grand staircase, Marika took off her captain's cap and bowed. Her clear and clear voice echoed through the main hall.

"I'm here to plunder. I look forward to working with you."

The large man with the skinhead and the power suit in the background each fired a large caliber rifle held in one hand. A flash of light scorched the observation dome of the main hall.

In addition to the cheers of "wow," there was a round of applause.

"That was, of course, a warning shot, so the Princess Apricot's hull should not have been damaged. We have temporarily disabled the monitoring system just to be safe."

With a smile on her face, Captain Marika started to slowly descend the grand staircase, standing on the tiptoes of her long high-heeled boots.

"Turn the lights back on. It's easier for us to talk to you if we can see all the passengers."

As Marika raised one hand, the lights in the main hall regained the brightness they had earlier.

"Some of you may have heard of it before, but please heed my usual warning."

Marika slowly looked around at the faces of the audience as she was gazed at from all over the main hall.

"Your safety is guaranteed as long as you follow our instructions. If you obey our instructions, you will return to port safe and sound, and with the rare bragging rights of having been attacked by pirates. Not only the passengers, but the crew as well."

Slightly later, the skinhead cyborg with a missile launcher in one hand, an anti-armor rifle in the other, and an over-armored power suit, with a bandana and eye-patch behind it, following them are the familiar styles of bandanas and eye patches wielding pirate swords and cutlasses, as well as a beam gun in one hand and a pirate sword in the other, but also field-equipped rangers, black-clad men with machine guns in both hands, ninjas with one sword, shinobi with two swords, and female gunmen with two guns, the pirates, all dressed and equipped in different ways, descend the grand staircase, keeping their eyes and sights fixed on the area.

"If you put up any undue resistance-"

"What will happen?"

The voice emanating from among the passengers caught the attention of the audience.

Winking at the long hair and short cut women who were rolling their eyes at the counter, the young man slowly walked out. Sensing the danger, the passengers moved to the left and right of the red-carpeted space leading from the grand staircase landing to the counter bar in the middle of the staircase.

To the pirate at the top of the stairs, the young man slowly put his hand on his chest and bowed to her.

"To commemorate such a rare event as the attack of space pirates, I would like to challenge the pirate captain to a duel."

Marika sighed when she saw the young man's face as he walked straight toward her.

"There are cool guys like you everywhere."

"I heard it's the law of pirates that you can't refuse a one-on-one duel."

"Yeah, that's a bunch of movie nonsense, right?"

"If I win, I want the ladies of Princess Apricot to be left in peace."

"What if you lose?"

"Then I will be returned to the earth."

Looking around, the young man walked up to the sabers that were hung on the pillars of the main hall, buttressed against each other like the decorations of an ancient dynastic coat of arms.

"I would like you to be my opponent."

The young man took both of the slender sabers that were hanging from the pillar ornaments and threw one of them, still in its sheath, at Marika.

Marika caught it and looked at the young man with a disgusted gaze.

"Are you sure about this?"

Sleekly drawing his saber, the man bowed with a salute in place of an answer.

"You don't have to provide that much service.'

Marika gave the man a cold stare.

"You're gonna die, sweetheart."

"If I can protect the ladies from such treacherous pirates, then I would be happy to do so."

He pointed his saber, supported by his right hand, straight at Marika. Holding the sheath in his left hand, he placed it on his lightly slumped waist and assumed a fencing stance.

"Here we go!"

As if she had no choice, Marika pulled her slender saber out of its sheath.

"That's a one-handed sword."

Marika remembered the kendo she had learned in school and held the silver sword blade up to her blue eyes. She tossed the sheath, which seemed to be in the way, to the side.

The young man chuckled.

"The pirates will be defeated!"

"Is that right?"

"Abandoning the scabbard means not using the scabbard to hold the saber after the battle. Abandoning the scabbard means abandoning the game!"

"All right, I'll pick it up later."

Marika swung her light saber.

"Whenever you're ready."

"Prepare yourself!"

Jumping low, the man attacked Marika with a silver afterglow. Marika, who had just parried a deep thrust with a side stroke, aimed at her opponent with her sword, but the man quickly backed away and avoided the strike of the three-sided saber.

"I'll do it."

"Well, I'm a pirate, after all."

Marika, smiling and on her feet, struck from the top. The clear metallic sound of sparks and sabers being exchanged echoed through the lounge at a fast tempo.

At the tenth clash, Marika's saber was launched with a loud and powerful exertion. The saber flew into the air with great force, and it stuck into a thick pillar made of natural wood and shivered.

"The game is won."

The man nodded his head in satisfaction to Marika, who was holding her right hand down.

"Then, prepare yourself!"

A dazzling beam pierced the main hall with a ripping explosion. With the smell of ions burning the atmosphere, the man saw the scorch mark of the beam that pierced his chest.

"You ... pirate!"

Holding his saber in his hand, the man fell to the carpet of the main hall.

"I told you, you were going to die."

Marika returned the large beamgun she had discharged unannounced to its holster on her hip. Without looking at the man she had killed, Marika looked around at the passengers in the quiet lounge.

"Now, does anyone else have a problem with this? If not, I'll just ask you to give up the jewelry you're wearing right now."

The space pirate ship Bentenmaru, which had attacked the luxury liner Princess Apricot in the Western Galactic Corridor, had completed its appointed task and left for parts unknown.

According to the records, the passengers and crew of the Princess Apricot were not harmed.

There is no record anywhere of the young man being shot by Marika, the pirate captain, with a beam gun. Also, the record of carrying the man who was supposed to have collapsed in the main hall to the hospital care room, and the record of the young man being on board the Princess Apricot before that time, have disappeared cleanly from the records.

The Princess Apricot was released from the pirate ship Bentenmaru and all electronic equipment was restored. The ship submitted a routine report of the pirate attack to the route control station and damage reports to the route patrol and the Imperial Fleet in charge of the area and headed for her next port of call, Mithril 30, a little later than scheduled.

The Bentenmaru, which had erased its wake by the classic method of short-distance superluminal jumps and triple-jumping, was now swaying in stealth mode in the vast interstellar space off its course, minimizing energy emissions from the ship.

The intercom in the captain's office rang.

'Kane.'

"Yes, thanks for your help."

Marika ran her finger along the control panel on the captain's seat and opened the door.

Kane McDougall, the Bentenmaru's helmsman, entered the captain's quarters with a basket full of jewelry, his suit still burned on his chest from a direct hit by a beam.

"You haven't gotten changed yet?"

Marika stared at the beam mark on Kane's chest where she had shot him, raising her eyebrows. It was an elaborate special effect, even the carbonization of the inner bio-tissue had been created.

"Well, it's fun to see everyone I pass by gasp in surprise."

Kane raised the basket.

"How was the haul?"

"Same as usual."

Marika stood up from her desk and looked at Kane, who placed the basket full of jewelry in front of her.

"They are all cheap imitation imitations and counterfeit fakes. This is not a cruise ship for middle-class people who wear real jewelry to the ball."

"Hmm"

Marika rummaged through the pile of jewelry with a bored look on her face.

"Then return it through the insurance company as usual. I'm sure they all have high theft insurance anyway."

Marika put the shiny accessories back in the basket.

"It might be more profitable later on to ingratiate yourself with an insurance company that will bilk you out of compensation than to be ripped off through back channels."

"I feel like it's useless to beg an insurance company that is famous for its reluctance, but it's our tradition, so it can't be helped."

"Is there anything else I need to know?"

"The ship's condition right now is that the second nuclear reactor is still stalling, but this happens every time, and this is not the first time that there have been problems with the base of the radio-frequency radar system. It was a good job with no accidents."

"So it's business as usual. Tell everyone to get some rest until the next mission."

"Roger that."

With a firm salute, Kane left the captain's office.

Marika, who was left alone in the captain's office, looked at the mirror next to the desk.

She saw herself in a pirate outfit with a mini-skirt and a trimmed-down anti-armor beam gun, which she had forced herself to wear, reflected in the antique mirror, which had been a fixture on a luxury liner older than the Bentenmaru. Marika held her right hand to her forehead in imitation of Kane's salute and sighed at how ill-fitting it was.

How did I get into this situation?

Marika recalled her daily life as an ordinary high school student until only half a year ago.