Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

The moment that Avery and his team came out of hyperspace, they found themselves surrounded by a half dozen Alliance Police frigates led by a single light cruiser.

"We're being scanned, and a transmission is coming in from the lead vessel." Jasmine informed Avery.

"Got it, go ahead and accept the call. This is what we expected." Avery replied without a hint of nervousness.

They had just entered the outer regions of the Dramid System, and naturally security was tight. Unlike most places that could be flown into freely, there was an Alliance Police checkpoint at every hyperspace entry point.

Fortunately, the check was not too invasive. The officers merely asked some routine questions of Avery, Ezra, and Olivia before allowing them access into the system after completing their scans.

Being high-ranking mercenaries with legitimate business in the system as well as Avery's prestigious award certainly helped the process along. The Alliance Police had welcomed them warmly, and the moment that they had finished the bare minimum necessary procedures, they let Avery's team through.

"This place is really packed. I thought that my home was populous, but this is something else entirely." Jasmine said as she glanced around at the space outside.

Even on the fringes of the system, there were dozens of stations ranging from small to medium doting the area at regular intervals.

Along with these stations there were also plenty of spacecraft. It was like a high traffic city despite being out in space far from any of the main hubs of the system.

Still, this was the capital of the entire Dramid Alliance. A galactic power that spanned tens of thousands of light years. It only made sense that this was the densest population center considering everything that went on in the system.

"So have you decided on our first stop yet?" Kasandra asked, a gleam of anticipation in her eyes.

Avery still had not figured out what the most important matter for them was.

They had two major jobs to take care of while in the Dramid System. The first being Avery participation as Storren. Corp's pilot to show of the Dauntless, or as they would call it, SCXD-011, in the competition for a major contract with the Alliance Police. Or, to look into the corrupt dealings going on pertaining to the central government that Jasmine's mother had paid them to check out.

However, these were not the only matters of importance. Along the way to the capital system, Avery's group had taken some more jobs here and there, and they needed to go check-in at the central branch of the Mercenary Association to collect.

It was also common courtesy for mercenaries to inform the nearest branch of their arrival just in case some sort of emergency occurred and their services were needed. Though, that possibility was nearly impossible in this system considering the heavy Alliance Police presence.

'I know which ones Kasandra and Jasmine would each pick.' Avery thought, feeling their eyes on him.

Obviously, Jasmine wanted them to go ahead and get started on her mother's mission. She still cared a lot about her home. And as the type of person that pursued justice above all else, she could not stand for money that was rightfully supposed to being towards grants for schools ending up in some bureaucrats' pockets.

Naturally, Avery's team could not just go snooping around on their own, which was why Regina had set things up so that they would be working with Azade's representative within the Alliance Assembly. The highest governing body within the Dramid Alliance.

As for Kasandra, no doubt she wanted to head directly for Storren Corp. to pick up her new ship. At this point its construction should have been completed and it would be waiting for them to come pick it up.

There were also some other matters that Avery wanted to talk with the major shipbuilding company about. One of which was getting Kaiden a new vessel of his own. He had already sent some messages to them, but it was best that such a deal was hammered out in person.

Feeling himself being pulled left and right, Avery instead decided to go straight down the middle.

"I think that we should stop by the Mercenary Association first. Best that we let them know that we're here and pick up our payment for that escort job we did. Anyway, that will probably be the quickest item on the agenda we can take care of."

Both Kasandra and Jasmine giggled a bit at Avery's indecisiveness. They could see through him easily enough and realized that he was trying to buy more time before having to decide between the two important jobs that they had lined up.

Unbeknownst to Avery, the two glanced at each other and seemed to come to a tacit agreement. That they would use this opportunity to mess with him a bit. Help keep him on his toes.

With his decision made, Avery sent a quick message to both Ezra and Olivia and began leading the way towards the main headquarters of the Mercenary Association.

Along the way, they passed by the first planet in the system and were amazed by what they saw.

It had long ago been carved out and stripped off all of its usable materials. Now it was only a shell of what it had once been and was covered in large metal tubes that looked like a web created by certain species of creatures.

The planet that had never been habitable, naturally or through terraforming, had been turned into what basically amounted to a giant space station. Apparently its main focus now was as a fuel refinery.

"They've really left nothing to waste here." Avery muttered.

Every planet had been put to use somehow, and there was not a single asteroid left intact anywhere. Any useful material had long ago been mined and processed.

Of course, the place was not some desolate wasteland devoid on anything. Quite the opposite.

There were stations and ships abound, and three habitable planets, including Dramid, the home world of the Alliance.

The first one that Avery and his team were able to see was a terraformed planet that was essentially a massive nature park and resort. Biomes from all other planets had been recreated on it, and it was known as one of the best vacation destinations within the Dramid Alliance.

Truthfully it was stunning to see. As impressive as Azade had been, this planet was even more so, considering the different colors that could be seen from space due to the vastly different ecosystems that each had different kinds of life.

"Perhaps if we've got time, we can take a few day trips there. I'm a bit interested in the jungles and mushroom caverns."

Hearing that Avery was curious about the place, Kasandra and Jasmine looked up the planet's features and started picking out some that interested them as well. They might have been here for work, but that did not mean there would be no time for relaxing.

Eventually, their destination came into view.

Unlike in other systems where Mercenary Association branches were on colony's, the Main Headquarters was an entire station all on its own. The heart of the entire organization that Avery and his team were a part of.