Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Seeing that Avery was willing to assist them, Kaiden had nothing more to say on the matter.

He was ready to go off on his own, if necessary, but he knew that having Avery along would be an incredible boon.

Not only had he proven himself an excellent pilot, but the enormous carrier vessel he had recently commissioned from Storren Corp. would be an important asset in taking back the home Kaiden and Kasandra had been forced to flee from.

However, Kasandra on the other hand looked a bit guilty. This had been a part of her aim when she had originally hooked up with Avery. But now she was uncertain of how she felt about pushing him into a fight that was not his own.

"Seriously, stop worrying about things that don't matter. When I decided to spend the rest of my life with you, your enemies became my enemies. Even the ones I did not know about. So cheer up instead. You're closer than ever to reclaiming the home that you lost." Avery said, rubbing Kasandra's cheek and gazing into her eyes lovingly.

As he watched this, Kaiden looked like he was about to gag and decided that he had seen enough.

"If you don't need anything else from me, I want some time alone."

Getting up, he exited the room and left Avery and Kasandra alone.

With her brother now gone, Kasandra became a lot more clinging and insisted that Avery hold her in his arms. A request he was happy to indulge.

'This certainly complicates things. I knew that the two of them had an unpleasant past by what bits Kasandra has told me, but I never expected something like this. This is definitely going to be more difficult than dealing with Jasmine's mother. At least that problem was able to be solved with discourse and understanding. But Kasandra and Kaiden didn't run away from home. They were forced to leave or they would have been killed.'

As much as Avery talked big, he knew that this was not going to be easy.

They had no idea what sort of forces Daxton might have at this point. Any information that Kasandra and Kaiden possessed would be ten years out of date. There was no telling how long it would take Avery's team to increase their numbers enough to challenge an entire planet.

At the very least, Kasandra and Kaiden's home was outside of the Dramid Alliance or any other nearby major power. This would keep the conflict isolated and avoid any major inconveniences. They were not going to become wanted criminals because they attacked a planet almost no one knows about.

Still, this was a problem for the future. Right now, there were plenty of issues that needed tackling where they currently were. Plus, it would be impossible to even consider heading out to Kasandra and Kaiden's home until Avery's new carrier ship was built.

'I need to use the publicity from the competition to focus on recruiting. We're going to need at least another thousand crew members for the carrier, and ideally more than double that amount.' Avery thought, going through everything that he needed to do in the near future.

Eventually, Kasandra felt comforted enough and broke free from Avery's grasp so that she could face him.

Her expression had become serious, and he knew that she had something else to tell him.

"Avery, there's something I have to get off my chest. And you can't say anything about it to anyone else. Not Jasmine, or my brother."

"Sure. Whatever it is, your secret is safe with me. Even if I was tortured, I wouldn't give it up." Avery said, smiling reassuringly.

Taking a deep breath, Kasandra steeled herself to reveal something that no one else knew. It was a secret she had kept to herself for these last ten years and had been eating away at her.

"The day that Kaiden and I fled from our home, I watched as Daxton killed our father. When they breached our house, which was serving as our clan's last stronghold, I was hiding in a secret corridor that led to the escape ship. I'd gotten separated from everyone else in the commotion and was trying to rush to safety. That's when I passed by the house's main room that had been turned into an impromptu barracks."

Kasandra bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as she recalled her most painful memory. It was difficult to talk about, but she wanted someone to know. And the only person she felt comfortable telling it to was Avery.

The room that Kasandra had passed by was where her father and the last of those loyal to him made their last stand.

They fought as hard as they could, but they were heavily outnumbered. It did not take long for Daxton's forces to breach their defenses and slaughter everyone except for Kasandra's father.

"He wasn't satisfied with just winning. I watched him beat my father for several minutes until he was barely conscious. Only after that did he finally kill him." Kasandra said through her sobbing.

At some point she had started crying again. Reliving the horrid moment as she divulged everything to Avery.

"It wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could do." Avery said, trying to comfort her.

"But there was!" Kasandra shouted. "I'd swiped a laser pistol from the armory earlier to protect myself. I'd never fired one before, but I was desperate and confused. Yet even though I had a clear shot, I couldn't shoot that monster even as he was beating my father to death. I held it up, but my hands were shaking so hard. Why couldn't I just have pulled the trigger back then?!"

Kasandra's anguish over her perceived failure was obvious to see.

She regretted not being able to kill Daxton when she had the chance. Perhaps always wondering if that decisive moment could not have changed everything.

"You were only fifteen back then and had no combat experience at all. You can't blame yourself for something like that. And killing Daxton wouldn't have made a difference. Someone else just would have taken his place and he would have become a martyr for his cause. One of his men would have killed your father instead, and then they would have come after you. I think that you made the correct choice. You wouldn't be here with me right now otherwise."