Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

With Avery having made his decision in the matter concerning Regina's investigation, Jasmine, Ezra, and Kaiden headed back to the Specter and began their return to Dramid.

Now alone with only Kasandra again, Avery went to the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's chair. Slumping against the back and letting out a deep sigh.

"Why can't things ever be easy?" Avery grumbled.

"That's just part of your luck I suppose."

Kasandra took her place next to Avery and smiled at him with a teasing grin.

"I'm not sure if I want to hear that from you. Some of the trouble I've got to deal with is directly related to you."

"I won't deny that, but it's fine. Because I'm cute enough to be worth the extra effort." Kasandra said, swiftly raising her legs and resting her feet in Avery's lap.

A slight smirk formed on his lips as he understood that she was trying to act playfully to distract him from everything that was going on.

Their trip to the capital system was not supposed to have been this difficult.

A low stakes competition and investigating the wrongdoings of a few corrupt government officials was all that they had been expecting.

Yet, everything had become more complicated the further they went.

There were some shady occurrences within the competition, the investigation that Jasmine was leading was more complex and dangerous than any of them had first imagined, and they had to worry about people from Kasandra and Kaiden's home world coming after them at any moment. And these were only the three biggest issues that Avery and his team were dealing with. There were others looming in the background.

"And I've got to do an interview later today. Which I have no motivation for right now." Avery complained, seeing another message notification pop up from the competition organizers.

He had left the waiting hangar on emergency business, and they really wanted him to return as soon as possible.

If he was missing for the time slot when he was supposed to make his appearance, it would derail everything that had been set up.

"Is it bad that I'm considering dropping everything and just setting a course for the far reaches of the galaxy? Going back to a simpler time when it was just you and me."

"No, everyone thinks about escaping from mounting pressure when it becomes to great. OF course, I know that you would never act on this desire." Kasandra said assuredly.

"Oh, and why's that?" Avery asked.

"Well, at the very least you wouldn't leave behind Jasmine, of that, I'm sure. Plus, all of us that chose to follow you know that you're not the type to cut and run. You proved that to me when you risked your own life to save me from imminent death. And you've shown everyone else through your actions time and time again."

Avery could not help but be flattered by the praise that Kasandra was heaping onto him.

He knew that he had some accomplishments under his belt, but he tried not to be conceited about it.

For part of the reason he was willing to rush headlong into danger was because he was afraid.

Afraid of losing those he cared about, and that if he ever started to run away, that he would never be able to stop.

"Thanks, Kasandra. I needed that." Avery said, setting a return course back to the competition's hangar.

"It's no problem. Whenever you need to show a bit of vulnerability or weakness, just know that Jasmine and I will always be here for you. Though, I would have preferred to comfort you in bed instead if we had the time." Kasandra said suggestively.

"How about I take you up on that offer later. Once I've finished with this interview."

Activating the Dauntless' light speed drive, he shot across the Dramid system to return to the hangar he was supposed to have quietly been waiting in.

Upon his arrival, Avery was escorted back to his spot within the hangar and received numerous messages from the competition staff asking that he not abruptly leave again.

He even received a transmission from Dorris on behalf of Storren Corp.

It would look bad on their part if the pilot representing them missed any part of the competition, so they wanted to encourage Avery not to make any more rouge moves.

"We left for only a couple of hours, and they got way too worked up about it. I'm starting to want to reach the end of this competition sooner rather than later. I don't know how much longer I can stand this strict scheduling."

Avery had gotten used to his more carefree life working as a mercenary.

Sure, there were obligations that he often had to deal with, but nothing quite like this. Most of the time he was able to go where he wanted and do what he wanted. Except now he was being led around without almost any say in either of these two aspects of his life. It was starting to feel stifling.

Nevertheless, it was just something he had to get through. He at least owed it to Ardesen and Dorris who had been his allies within Storren Corp. and worked to prevent a harsher response towards him possessing their experimental vessel.

Eventually, the waiting came to an end, and the first of the interviews of the pilots were going to begin.

The largest broadcasting network in the Dramid Alliance had been given the privilege of hosting the event, and they had over a hundred billion viewers tuning in before a single member of the competition made an appearance.

From the waiting room that he had been assigned to, Avery watched from a large monitor that had been set up and had his terminal ready in his hands to look up the individuals that were going to be revealed.

He figured that a lot of them were going to be fairly famous, but there was a good chance he would not know who they were.

The Dramid Alliance spanned tens of thousands of light years, and there were too many noteworthy people to keep track of.

"They certainly like their fanfare. I just wish that they'd get to the main part already."

Although Avery was a part of the program, he was still just as invested as it as everyone else watching.

This would be his first time to learn about the other people he was competing against.

Through his own experience, he already knew that all of them were experiential pilots.

Finally, the first interview began.

Avery kept his eyes peeled intently as the pilot of the ninth place competitor walked out onto the stage that had been specially prepared for this event.

'So that's troublemaker number two.' Avery thought as he watched a middle-aged woman walk into view on the screen.

She was the one that had presented a downright horrible showing during the first event, and while she had not had any performances on the same level in the other events, she had still been consistently placing in the lower rankings. On purpose so far as Avery could tell.

He didn't recognize her immediately, so she must not have been too famous. Still, he could tell at a glance that she was tough.

It was not only apparent in her physical features, but in the way she presented herself.

Fortunately, it was not long before the host conducting the interviews said the woman's name and he was able to search for information on her. Мy Virtuаl Librаry Еmpirе (М V L Е М Р Y R) аpprесiаtеs yоur rеаdеrship аt thе sоurсе.

"Katarina Trix. I don't think I've heard of her before, but let's see what's out there." Avery mumbled while typing the name into his terminal.

Immediately upon finishing the search, he was hit with a wall of articles.

She was certainly famous, or to be more accurate, infamous.

The first thing that Avery found was that she was a former five star mercenary.

However, she had not retired like Urs had but been kicked out of the Mercenary Association for misconduct.

Apperntly she often took off the records jobs of questionable morality.

She had a long list of petty crimes and violations, but nothing that would have earned her any jail time. Just a bunch of fines.

Still, losing her position in the Mercenary Association had not stopped her from continuing her business.

Most mercenaries wanted to be aligned with the association since it gave certain protections and guarantees, but there were some people that started their own unaffiliated mercenary companies. Though they often failed since they could not hope to compete with the juggernaut that was the Mercenary Association.

"There's even speculation that she cooperates with pirates, but nothing has ever been proven."

Avery felt confused why one of the ten top shipbuilding corporations in the Dramid Alliance would hire someone like this for such an important competition.

So far, their pilot had not shown any intention of winning, and it would be difficult for her to make a comeback at this point.

The only thing that he could think of was that this was a big publicity stunt. That the people that had hired Katarina were adhering to the saying that "there's no such things as bad press."

Either that, or there was something else going on that Avery could not see.