Shizuya is at least pretty civil about it. And the final payoff (the shock gear) is a treat, at least in my book. I tend to interpret the scene as Steele just not risking the cockpit interior in a fight, but I get where you're coming from.
at least shizuya's is realistic yeah your ship got ambushed and torn to shreds by a ship a couple of factors bigger, they boarded you with your typical breaching tactics and you're knocked on your ass and bested, by a much larger, more experienced, better equipped mercenary group. all of that makes sense.
now take the host shukuchi 'problems' 'cause this isn't just a problem with akane. initial startup they're cornered and you can chase them down, you keep up and they get away using the mysterious mcguffin mask, next encounter you have the same shit play out only this time instead of chasing you followed from a distance with the same results, third encounter ssdd, except this time you get exposition from some rando npc who's being leaned on, fourth encounter you fight and if you win same bullshit (steele has caught on but somehow remains unable to or too inept to do something about this perfect stealth that no one else knows how to achieve), final encounter you walk into an obvious trap (most of us are prepared, and just going to see if we can beat the answers out of someone) and you get clubbed over the head after agreeing to be blindfolded (because steele is somehow that fucking stupid) and then get given the choice of death, dishonor in two flavors money or blood, or becoming someone's bitch with no idea who this person is at all before agreeing.
do you see how nonsensical the second one is?
i don't want to break soandso's balls, because i love mirrin, maike, and shizuya, but making it to where we get bested because OUR character is acting in a way that is uncharacteristically stupid whilst not giving any laudable excuse or even an exposition on the track record of the organization to justify their ridiculous ex-machina abilities is bad writing and i don't mean that as a jab at soandso it happens in movies and tv shows all the damned time.
if the host shukuchi ever does get edited or re written i'd like to see us get put into more plausible situations. we chase down the first guy ask them a few questions turn them over, bam guys out due to bribery and corruption of the station authority. second encounter after taking care of business guy notices you following him you either fight or lie, back up comes you've got shots peppering you from one side distracting you from the initial threat who then proceeds to book it into the jungle while you aren't looking but not before pinging you with a micro tracker like your dick cousin. third encounter should play out about the same (mask and flashbangs included) albeit with more questioning the guys you knock the snot out of and without that lowering your weapons because of honor bs. final encounter you've made it well aware you're not going to be dissuaded from your investigations a representative emails you and offers to chat you agree and meet (you can either stop here after having your questions answered, or you can continue listing one of many possible reasons) if you continue you get drugged either by crafty sleight of hand or a dart to the neck/ass/forehead (this would be the obvious danger we'd put ourselves in but it would be justifiable and wouldn't require us to be inept ) at this point you you meet akane and you can submit, resist (break free and run), or provoke them into a fight with no winners (people like this tend to be sore losers who blow everyone the fuck up including themselves). that flow of events would make sense allow players to fully complete the quest, unlock or skip akane, or game over themselves in a realistic way. along the way you could explore the host's history, how they get their gear, why they operate as mostly a protection racket instead of being pirates, what their relations are with other criminal gangs etc... doing it that way makes it to where steele doesn't have to be inept to get to akane, you don't have to abuse the ex-machina mask, and can explain away the gang's power using its history and current position. but in the end it's just my opinion and it's not my content so i really don't have a say beyond that
