Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

As Avery sat in the pilot's chair in the Dauntless' cockpit, a smile formed on his lips that would just not seem to go away.

For practically three days straight, he and his team of mercenaries had partied and relaxed at the entablement they had chosen for their celebration.

Food, drinks, entertainment, and gambling, you name it, and they did it. Normally one might consider Avery's group to be more composed than most other mercenaries, but over the last few days they had really let loose.

Their celebration of a very successful job had culminated in a cost of several millions of Krenin, in large part due to Avery having ordered the finest food and alcohol the establishment offered for everyone on a whim without even checking the prices for every meal for the first two days.

Still, it had been an immense amount of fun and there was no doubt that the bond between everyone on the team had improved greatly.

The price was steep but by no means too much considering the amount they had made hunting Jalllas. Earning big rewards deserved equally large celebrations in turn after all. This was simply part of the culture of being a mercenary. Bring in a lot of money and enjoy some fast and expensive fun.

"Phew, that was enjoyable, but I think that might have been a tad too much excitement for me all at once. I'm ready for things to go back to normal for a while." Kasandra said, somehow looking both rested and exhausted at the same time.

Jasmine nodded her head in agreement. Back when she was still living on Azade, her mother had brought her to all manner of parties among other members of the senate, but none of them had been nearly as intense or involved as their recent celebration.

While Kasandra and Jasmine were coming close to fully acclimating to their new physical augmentations, three days of partying had put a bit of strain on them.

"What surprises me the most though is how you're still doing perfectly fine Avery." Jasmine said in concern.

Despite the fact that he should have needed more time to recover than both of them, Avery had not once shown any signs of discomfort during the last three days. It was as if he was already fully adjusted to his augmentations.

"I guess that my body just adapted quicker than expected. Maybe it has to do with the special organ I had made for myself. Dr. Raiti said that it would take around a month for it to be fully functioning after building up enough of the relevant cells, but it's possible that it became active sooner for some reason. At least that's my best guess."

Avery shrugged his shoulders and looked unworried about his body's miraculously quick recovery. The medical pod had not found any problems with him and all of its scans had proven that he was in perfect health.

He had sent more data to Dr. Raiti, and she had assured him that there were no dangers to his well-being. Though, she also insisted that he return so that she could examine him more closely.

However, judging that her interest in him had nothing to do with his health and more due to the unusual circumstances, he had declined to meet with her again. If nothing was wrong with him, he saw no reason to spend the time going back just to end up as her lab rat. Plus, he was far too busy with other matters.

"We've been cleared to launch." Jasmine announced upon receiving confirmation for their request to leave.

With that, Avery's team left the station and all of them set a course for a hyperplane located at the edge of the system. It was finally time for all of them to head to the capital system and complete the obligations they had waiting there.

Yet, while they were speeding along at light speed and were nearly ninety percent of the way to their destination, an emergency call came in over hyperspace communications.

Wondering what it could be, Avery swiftly checked the identification number and saw that the signal was coming from Burke's ship. Naturally, during their collaboration together, they had shared contact information, and all of it was still saved within the Dauntless' computer.

"I wonder what this could be about?"

Had it not been coming in on an emergency channel, Avery might have ignored it for now and simply listened to the recorded message later.

The most likely conclusion that Avery drew was that some catastrophic error had occurred with the payment for their last job together. Considering that hundreds of millions of Krenin were on the line, that would certainly be an emergency.

Yet, what Burke said was far from what Avery had imagined, and truly far more urgent.

"Avery, I'm glad your okay. I don't know what possessed him to do so, but Doyle and everyone in his faction took most of our company's vessels and sabotaged the rest so that we can't go after them. I'm not exactly sure what his aim is, but I think that he's going after you." Burek said frantically.

Instantly Avery's expression became deadly serious, and he responded to Burke with a cold tone of voice.

"Tell me everything. Now."

There was no compromise in his words. This was not a matter to be heedless of. Burke obviously had reason to believe that Doyle would attack Avery and his team, and seeing as how this would constitute a serious risk to their lives, he needed to know exactly what was going on.

Burke continued to explain what had led up to this event, and Avery became convinced that something must have finally pushed Doyle over the edge. As much as Burke had tried to assert before that his friend was getting better, Avery doubted that was the case now. Most likely this was merely how Burke wished to view things so that he did not have to face reality. The Doyle he once knew was gone.

"I appreciate the warning. I need to update the rest of my team and prepare." Avery said, moving his hand to end the call.

Before he did though, Burke called out to him one last time.

"I know I don't have the right to ask this, but please try to escape without fighting if you can, and if things do become violent, capture Doyle alive."

Avery could tell that Burke's plea came from genuine concern for his friend, but Avery could only shake his head.

"Sorry, I can't guarantee anything. My life and those of my team are going to be on the line here. If I were you, I would pray that we are not your partner's aim."

Ending the transmission, Avery contacted Ezra, Kaiden, and Olivia and updated them on the warning that Burke had just sent.

Unfortunately, they only had a short time to discuss what their next move would be before the Dauntless' long-range sensors picked up dozens of vessels coming their way from both ahead of and behind them.

"I tried sending a message to the Alliance Police, but they've set up communication jammers. Nothing is getting through now." Jasmine reported.

It seemed that Burke's transmission had slipped through just before Doyle and his forces were in range to block the signal.

Regrettable as it was, not being able to contact the Alliance Police would hardly matter. Even if they got a signal through, it would take far too long for any ships to be mobilized to support Avery's team.

"We're too outnumbered for a head on clash. We will need some cover to get through this." Avery mumbled, hastily pulling up the map of the Etania System and looking for a suitable place to make their stand.

Luckily, there was an asteroid field not but a few tens of thousands of kilometers away. If they pushed their ships to go as fast as they could, they should be able to reach the area just as Doyle's faction got into weapons range.

Swiftly, Avery contacted the other captains of his team and informed them of his plan. There were no objections, and all four of their ships turned towards the asteroid field and began flying at full speed.

Had this all just been a misunderstanding, Doyle's forces would have had no reason to follow Avery's team. Except that is exactly what they did. They stayed on a direct course for them just as swarms of certain insects did when they found a target to hunt down.

"Still nothing?" Avery asked.

Kasandra shook her head in response. They had been trying to send a transmission to Doyle's craft to get himself to explain himself and stand down, but all they had received was silence.

So far, their actions could be taken as a sign of intimidation at the very least, and the moment they fired a single weapon, that would seal things. There would be no going back at that point.

It was not much longer before the Dauntless' computer began blaring an alarm. It was something that Avery had heard many times before while fighting pirates. A ship had just locked weapons on them.

A moment later, a streak of red light flew by as Avery anticipated the attack and hastily jerked the steering controls so that the Dauntless shifted to the left.

"Release chaffs and decoy beacons."

At Averys orders, Jasmine typed away at her console, and small compartments on the side of the ship opened up and released the defensive equipment.

More lasers began to fly, but Avery's team was still at the very edge of the weapons' range and managed to avoid taking any hits.

Soon they made it to the designated asteroid field and slipped inside. Intent on using the floating rocks for cover during the ensuing battle.