Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

While Kasandra marveled at her new ship, Avery broached what could be the main reason he had come here today.

"We've already been in discussion about having a new craft built for another one of the members of my team. Kaiden recently lost his ship in battle, but he managed to make it through and is looking to buy a new one."

Avery then motioned for Kaiden to take over. This was going to be his new vessel and home, so it was only right that he got his input in.

For a few moments, he glanced at the display of Kasandra's new ship. Before they had been flying the exact same model when they were merely a mercenary duo and had earned the nickname of twin fangs.

If he ordered the same vessel as her, then it would be just like old times.

Yet, as he thought about it, that period in their lives was already over.

"I know that the prospect of a new medium sized ship is what we've already tossed around, but I want something bigger. Our team has a corvette already, but I think that I want one of my own."

This came as a surprise to everyone else when they heard Kaiden's desire.

A medium-class vessel similar to what he had been flying before was about as large a ship as a single person could handle. Much larger and it became necessary to have at least a few crew members no matter how good the vessel's automation was.

Kaiden was definitely more a of a loner type. Even after joining Avery's team, the only people he was really friendly with were his sister and Grito.

To have a corvette of his own though would mean that he would have to be a captain in charge of some crew members though.

"Don't look at me like you've just spotted some exotic animal you didn't think actually exists. I know I'm not a personable guy. But I'm not going to get anywhere unless I change. This is a necessary step forward for me." Kaiden asserted.

For the first time in a while, Kasandra took her eyes off her own new vessel and grinned knowingly at her brother. Causing him to scowl and start growling lowly at her.

Fortunately, Kasandra refrained from teasing him any further and Kaiden got down to business with Ardesen.

With the Storren Corp. executives expertise, and some advice from Grtio and Vi'ivando as well, he started picking out the specifications for his knew craft.

Unlike Kasandra who wanted a completely custom vessel, he went with a mass produced frame that they already manufactured.

It was the same type that the Alliance Police used for some of their own military corvettes, though the overall design and modules that Kaiden wanted were vastly different.

'He's looking to make a real bruiser. A bunch of heavy weapons and armor so that it can push through enemies and bully weaker ships easily. That's certainly something we don't have, so I think it's a good fit for our team.'

Honestly, Avery was impressed by how well thought-out Kaiden's ideas were for their group's synergy.

Frankly, it would have been easy for him to stick with what he already knew and just have another fast medium-class craft built for himself.

Once the broad specifications of Kaiden's knew ship were figured out, Ardesen started to talk about excepted pricing based on the market, but this was where Avery jumped in.

"Before we get to that, there's another purchase with your company. Considering how much this is going to cost, I think that a bundle deal might be in order. Also, it's about time that we both made good on another contract we made. You wanted to work with a queen energy lifeform's core. Well, now is the time."

Naturally, this caught Ardesen's attention.

He had been chomping at the bit to work with the queen energy lifeform's core in Avery's possession for a while now. It was a rare material that was almost impossible to get ahold of.

Normally to defeat a queen energy lifeform, it was necessary to assemble a fleet of hundreds of ships and destroy it with overwhelming firepower from a barrage of missiles and torpedoes.

Of course, this always ended up with the core being destroyed, as the only way to get it intact was to use EMP weaponry. Something difficult to use against creatures that could be the size of planets if given enough time to grow. Avery had been lucky that the one he encounter was a juvenile.

However, realizing the direction the conversation was going, Ardesen had to force himself to stop. As important within Storren Corp. as he was, a deal this big was a bit beyond his authority to greenlight on his own. It was far from his usual job considering he was not a sales rep.

'I'd better bring Dorris into this. She'll never let me live it down if I let the price on this job go too low just because of my own interests.'

Using the queen energy lifeform core in a ship was going to require something around the size of a heavy cruiser.

That meant that this was going to cost quite a bit. Probably at minimum around a hundred million Krenin.

Then there was also the corvette that Kaiden was looking to have commissioned. That was not going to be cheap either. Things had simply become too complicated for Ardesen. He was the Chief Technology Officer, so designs were one thing, but it was best to leave pricing up to the experts.

Eventually, Dorris arrived and Ardesen let her into his office.

She wore a clearly displeased expression on her face. Not happy about suddenly being ambushed about a prospective deal of this magnitude while she had been in a meeting with her team plotting out the expenses of promotion for their company during the upcoming competition.

This matter was not completely unrelated though, seeing as how Avery was going to be the one piloting their entry.

"I guess that it is good to see you again. It seems that you've picked up some more friends since we last met." Dorris said a bit prickly, glancing between Kaiden, Jasmine, Grito, and Vi'ivando.

For a moment, she looked warily at Kasandra. She remembered her uncanny ability to detect any lies during their first meeting. Negotiations with someone like that were a massive pain.

Still, she had a job to do, so she sat down beside Ardesen and asked what this was all about.

"I see, so you're looking for a discount on one new ship because you're ordering another one as well. What exactly are you looking for?"

Obviously whatever sort of vessel Avery wanted was going to be large and expensive considering he brought up the queen energy lifeform's core. A deal like this was not common for even Storren Corp, so it certainly required the upmost attention.

"I've looked through your company's catalog and think I've found a frame that I like already. Though, I am planning to make quite a number of changes from the base model."

Upon request, Ardesen gave Avery control over the monitor on his desk and Avery pulled up the craft that he had in mind.

"I'm looking for a carrier and mobile command center for my mercenary team. And I've decided that this ship is the best option."