Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

"You know some pretty devious tricks there." Kasandra said, a surprised and impressed expression on her face.

"Well, my father never had much of a knack for the more the more violent aspects of mercenary work, so he focused his time on learning about ships instead so that he could still be of help to the family. He taught me a few things like this just in case it ever came in handy. Though this is the first time I've ever done anything like this outside of a simulation."

Liesel turned her head away and blushed a bit after receiving some genuine praise from Kasandra.

She knew that Avery's partner did not particularly like her, so she was happy that she seemed to be warming up to her.

Of course, Kasandra knew how to separate her feelings during work, and Liesel had been a big help so far.

Her skillset was a bit different from Avery's and Kasandra's, and she had made this infiltration far easier.

While Avery had come up with the idea to shutdown the vessel's main generator, Liesel had been the one to suggest sending an energy surge to the bridge.

Using the access codes from one of the security guards that they had captured and then "incentivized" to help them, they had been able to gain far greater permissions over the ship's systems.

At the same time that they had caused the main generator to go into emergency shutdown, Liesel entered thousands of requests to supply more power to the bridge.

This had caused the vessel's systems to suddenly send an astoundingly powerful burst of energy towards the control center of the ship.

Normally, there were more protections in place to prevent something like this, but by activating every maintenance diagnostic and subroutine on the systems meant to prevent such energy surges, Liesel had overwhelmed them.

If things had gone as intended, then by now the bridge was most likely inoperable.

"The signal jamming equipment has gone down since it's not considered an essential function. I've just sent out a wideband distress signal, and a transmission to the rest of the team." Avery said, as he put away his terminal.

It was likely that people already knew that something was going on since the live broadcast of the competition had gone down, but now the exact information on the situation would soon be widespread.

The entire system was going to be put on lockdown now, and it shouldn't be too much longer before help arrived.

Still, Avery was not one to rest on his laurels yet.

Knocking out the main power and disabling the bridge was only the first step. There was still plenty more for them to accomplish.

"It sounds like we're going to be having some company soon. I think it's time that we make ourselves scarce." Kasandra said, her ears twitching as she heard dozens of heavy footfalls closing in on them.

With what they needed to do here accomplished, Avery rushed over towards the room's main doors and left a couple of parting gifts for the next people to come in.

After that, he picked up the restrained guard whose access code they were using since he figured that they could still be useful.

Just before the first group of troops breached into the room, Liesel was the last one to slip back into the maintenance tunnel and seal the hatch behind them.

A few seconds later, the main generator room's doors were forcefully opened by several individuals wearing light power armor that was focused heavily to increasing speed.

However, in their haste to apprehend the intruder causing chaos over the entire ship, they had neglected to check for any traps that might have been placed.

As soon as the doors were opened, four charges that Avery had left behind activated.

The explosions were not particularly big since he did not want to destroy the main generator, but they were still powerful enough to kill the first few people entering the room and stall the others.

Having prevented anyone from being able to pursue them for the moment, Avery, Kasandra, and Liesel slipped away. Heading deeper into the vessel towards their next destination.

…

When Clarien received a report of what had just occurred at the main generator room, his calm demeanor almost broke.

Everything seemed to be going wrong almost entirely because of a single element.

Avery Asteria turned out to be far more dangerous than originally anticipated.

Not because his abilities had been underestimated, but because of how he acted in an unpredictable manner.

It was crazy to try and infiltrate an enemy ship by flying into its hangar at the last moment.

So many things could have gone horribly wrong along the way that no sane person would attempt it even if the idea came to them.

Nevertheless, one could say that it was his boldness to act that had allowed him to turn everything around.

"We have three more dead, and another five injured, sir. It's unclear where the intruders went, but considering that no one has seen them, it's safe to assume that the maintenance tunnels are how they are getting around." Clarien's adjutant said.

Doing his best to keep calm, he considered all of his options.

Once Clarien had arranged his thoughts, he asked for one crucial piece of information that would determine his ultimate decision.

"How long will it take to get the main generator back on?"

"At least another ten minutes by our engineer's assessment. The explosion caused a mess of the room, and the lack of bridge control is hampering our ability to bypass certain diagnostic checks necessary before the emergency protocol can be deactivated."

Ten minutes may not have seemed like a lot of time, but considering their current position, it might as well have been an eternity.

Clarien knew that they had already overstayed their welcome here and that it was only a matter of time before wave after wave of Alliance Police arrived.

Rook had done his job well distracting the fleet that had been lying in wait, but they did not possess the firepower necessary to go head-to-head with Alliance Police.

The moment things turned into a battle, they would undoubtably be crushed.

"Send out the signal for all hands to head to the nearest escape pods and abandon ship. This mission is a failure. Recall all of our forces and prepare to leave." Clarien ordered.

His entire bridge crew looked surprised to hear how easily he planned to abandon their flagship.

As of right now, they had captured only two of their targets, and losing this vessel would constitute a major loss. Their gains from this job would be far from worth it.

"Sir, are you certain that is the corr-"

"Yes, I am." Clarien said, cutting off his lieutenant.

Nothing was more valuable than their lives.

Even if they got the ship up and running again, it would be meaningless if they ended up captured or killed.

Having given his orders, Clarien motioned for his two most trusted subordinates to follow him and headed towards his personal escape vessel.

While all of the other ships and shuttles onboard this vessel were currently trapped in the main hangar. For unforeseen emergencies like this one, Clarien had a small craft stored in a private hangar for solely his use.

Though the rest of the crew would have to leave via escape pods and get picked up by the other ships under Clarien's command, he would be able to immediately get away.

However, when he reached the hangar and opened its doors an unpleasant surprise was waiting for him.

The vessel that should have been in pristine condition was in terrible shape.

All of its thrusters had been heavily damaged by laser fire. It would not be capable of flying now.

"We go towards the nearest escape pod."

Despite his plans having been ruined once again, Clarien immediately adjusted. He was not going to let his emotions flare up even as his frustration grew.

Yet, it was only a dozen seconds later that an emergency report came in.

All of the ship's escape pods had just been simultaneously launched. With only around five percent of the crew having been onboard any of them.

It was now clear to Clarien that Avery and his companions intended to trap them here.

Never before had he felt so defeated and humiliated.

Except, he was not one to give up just because things seemed to be hopeless. He had not obtained his position within the organization by being quick to break under pressure.

"More sacrifices will need to be made." Clarien muttered under his breath.

Since it would be impossible to get everyone out, he ordered that a search of the entire ship while the main generator was being brought back online.

"Do not attempt to capture. Eliminate on sight. We can not allow the intruders to do as they please any longer." Clarien ordered, stoking the rage of the entire crew into a practically murderous frenzy.