Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

"Please always keep in flight sync mode with us unless there is an emergency. We don't want any misunderstandings to occur."

The one that had just given this warning to Avery and his team was Commander Berk Barkeley of the Alliance Police.

He was the man in charge of the escort that would be accompanying them to the Cocarro System so that Grito could testify against the Odium Syndicate.

For someone of his rank, he was fairly young, and his sharp eyes and short raven black hair gave him the appearance of a no-nonsense officer. And the impression he gave off was spot on.

Having been assigned this mission, he was acting not only as protection against any outside threats but was also there to make sure that Grito was delivered to the court. After having already run away once, he did present a flight risk so far as the Alliance Police was concerned.

"Well, he certainly seems like a pleasant guy." Kasandra said sarcastically once the transmission was cut off.

"At least he didn't outright threaten us, but the implication was clear." Avery replied with a sigh.

The Alliance Police commander had made sure to get his intentions across. If he thought that Avery's band of mercenaries was going to jeopardize his mission, then he would treat them as enemies.

Of course, they had no plans to run away with Grito. Getting his record clean would only serve as a benefit for them. Obviously, it would be nearly impossible to continue working as a mercenary if the Alliance Police was after them because they absconded with an important witness.

"I'm still a bit surprised that they were able to allocate this many ships just to guard us. Considering everything that just happened here." Jasmine said, glancing between the Alliance Police vessels that would be coming along with them.

In the lead, and the craft that Commander Berk was in charge of, was a light cruiser. One that was the newest model operated by the Alliance Police.

At over four hundred meters long, it was quite the behemoth of a ship compared to anything Avery's group possessed.

Then as further accompaniment, there were six corvettes that had taken up position around Avery's group.

With two on each side, and one above and below. In some ways it looked like they were captives of the Alliance police considering that they were surrounded.

"They must really want whatever information Grito has on this Odium Syndicate. Are they really that much trouble?"

Avery's question had really just been him musing out loud, but Jasmine swiftly gave him an answer.

"Definitely. They mostly just deal with bringing in and disrupting illegal drugs and they've learned how to stay off of the Alliance Police's radar. And since they're not based in the Dramid Alliance, it's pretty much impossible to put a stop to them. Especially since the Zatis Consortium where they are believed to be manufacturing the highly addictive drugs they distribute, is far from friendly with Alliance."

In truth, there were many within the Dramid Alliance that believed that the Odium Syndicate was actually being sponsored by one of the leading corporations within the Zatis Consortium.

Getting an enemy population hooked on highly addictive and dangerous drugs was far from a new strategy, but it still could be quite effective.

"We've just received another transmission. Seems that we'll be departing in five minutes." Kasandra said while Avery and Jasmine were discussing the Odium Syndicate and Zatis Consortium.

Seeing as how they were about to head out, Avery contacted the other members of his team and made sure that everything was alright with them.

Fortunately, nothing was out of the ordinary this soon into their journey, and they were all ready to get going.

"Looks like they've finally sent us the flight plan." Avery grumbled.

As if they might be spies of some kind, the Alliance Police had kept the details of which way they would be traveling to the Cocarro System a secret.

Only now that they were a few minutes out were they allowed this information, and the Alliance Police vessels around them had equipment set up to intercept any transmissions Avery's team sent. Just in case.

This was quite a bit of security considering that they were merely bringing along one witness, but that just went to show how important Grito was to this matter, and how much of a nuisance the Odium Syndicate had made itself.

"I was wondering how we were going to arrive in only eleven days. But were using a warp portal."

Seeing as how the Cocarro System was practically on the other side of the Alliance, a typical journey using hyperspace lanes would have taken around four months without stopping other than for refueling and resupplying.

But by using a warp portal, they were going to be able to cut that time down to less than ten percent.

"This will be my first time using one. It's not something the average mercenary can ever experience. Though I guess we do have access to them considering the Silver Cross you received, Avery." Kasandra said, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up about them. While the structures supporting the portal are impressive, the process of going through them isn't really all that."

Jasmine's nonchalant response had Avery and Kasandra turning their heads towards her with looks of surprise on their faces. They had assumed this would be the first time for her as well, but from her words, it was clear that she had traveled through a warp portal before.

"When did you ever have the opportunity to use one?" Avery asked curiously.

Seemingly caught off guard by this question, Jasmine floundered around a bit before answering.

"Um, it was during my transfer to the Yuson System. The academy I trained at was quite far away, so the Alliance Police Vessel transporting me went through one."

To anyone that had been watching her, it was obvious that Jasmine had just made this up on the fly as a somewhat plausible excuse.

'The longer I spend with her, the more I believe she actually is some well-to-do young lady that ran away from home to join the Alliance Police. And judging by her reaction to the Cocarro System, we must be heading towards her past. I just hope it doesn't bring up any trouble.'

Still, Avery had let Jasmine join his crew, and after everything that they had done and been through together, he was not about to give her up. He doubted that she wanted to return to whatever life she had before, so he would make sure that she stuck with him so long as that was what she wanted.

"Well, enough about that. It seems that it's time for us to go. We don't want to do anything out of line and gain the ire of Commander Berk." Avery said facetiously.

After receiving the message that they were cleared for departure, Avery synced up the Dauntless' navigation system with the light cruiser in the lead and then let the ship's computer do the rest.

A moment later, their group shot away from Phregon III, and once they were far enough away, they all simultaneously activated their light speed drives.

Another fifteen minutes went by uneventfully until they all dropped out of light speed. They had reached the entrance to the first hyper lane they would be using.

Once the last safety checks were finished, Commander Berk's ship went first, and all of the rest entered a few at a time.

"Okay, now we don't need to be on edge. We've got about nine hours to relax." Avery said, stretching out his arms.

Now that they were in hyperspace, the possibility of any threat was practically zero. Until they exited to transfer to the next hyper lane, they were safe.

"I think that it might be a bit too soon to let our guard down. We should study the route we're traveling and pick out the most likely spots that might be used for an ambush. Or do you think that Odium Syndicate isn't going to try something just because we have a police escort?"

Letting out a long exhale, Avery saw the logic in Kasandra's words and sat down with his two crew members and girlfriends to look over the map.

For the next few hours, they discussed strategy, but once they were satisfied with their preparations, the three of them took a load off and simply lounged around.

The leisure time did not last for long though, as once it was time to reenter normal space, they needed to stand ready in the cockpit just in case something happened. Since the hyper lane they were about to leave was basically in the middle of nowhere. The perfect spot for an ambush.

"You guys are seeing this too, right?" Avery asked once they returned to normal space.

Kasandra and Jasmine nodded their heads in response. Their eyes wide as they stared at what was displayed on the view screen. There certainly had been something unexpected waiting for them.