Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary
Chapter 202 202

As Avery cut through the part of the system that had recently been a battlefield, he saw the aftermath of the conflict.

There were massive debris fields from destroyed ships, most of which were pirates, but still plenty having originally come from mercenary and cargo vessels.

Despite having come out as the ultimate winners after fighting back the pirates, it was clear that there was a somberness in the way many of the survivors were flying. No doubt a great many people that had come here specifically for the Jallla extermination had lost some of their companions.

This was sadly part of the reality of being a mercenary. Sometimes people you were close with died in actions.

At the very least, Avery's team had gotten through the battle without any casualties.

When he finally reached where Ezra's, Kaiden's, and Olivia's ships were, they were busy collecting their spoils, it was clear that they had done well even without him around.

'Kaiden's craft is a little dinged up though. They must have a hard time of their own.' Avery thought, assessing the conditions of his team members' ships.

A few moments after arriving, the Dauntless received three simultaneous transmissions.

Jasmine answered each call and pulled them up on the main viewscreen. Connecting the captains of the four vessels in their group.

"It's good to see all of you again. I generally know what all of you have been up to, but mind giving me a quick report." Avery said.

Taking the lead, Ezra told him that once Grito had finished his role as a witness in the high-profile trial, he and the others had started searching for nearby jobs that would be profitable and not require them to move from one location.

That obviously eliminated any escort jobs, so all of them had at first expected to pick up some short-term security work or find an area with a lot of pirate activity and set up shop there.

Yet, as they had been searching for a suitable mission, Kaiden had caught wind of the space monster problem brewing in the Etania System.

For a group confident in their firepower and with the right weapons equipped, it held potential for an immense payday despite the low base rate. It had been too tempting to pass up.

"And that pretty much brings us up to now. We only got here a few days ago ourselves, and the lucrative elimination bonus per Jallla has been bringing in more and more mercs by the day. Though I suppose a large and powerful group of pirates finally caught wind of the operations and saw it as an opportunity." Ezra said, a dour look on his face.

So many large cargo ships transporting valuable space monster materials had been too tempting for these pirates to pass up on. And while they had lost a large number of their forces, it was hard to say that they had been totally beaten.

Many of them had managed to escape, and they had hijacked multiple cargo ships and taken them with them. No doubt that they would modify the large vessels for their own ends and sell off the Jallla corpses to the black-market merchants that worked with them.

"Well, not much we can do about it. That's an issue for the Alliance Police to deal with. Though, if they do find where those pirates are based, we'll try and join the raid if we can."

Nevertheless, though Avery would have been happy to exterminate the pirate band that had been causing chaos in the area, it was not likely that they would end up getting involved. Now that their business in the Coccaro System was finished up, he really did need to prioritize heading towards the capital system. After a couple more days in the Etania System to make some money, they would need to leave.

Naturally, the others knew this as well and had no qualms with following Avery. While he was busy dealing with Storren Corp., they needed to turn their focus towards the job Regina had given them. She had paid them quite generously already, and it would be stupid to slack on a job from such an important figure.

"Ah, and I wanted to ask you about a certain team of mercenaries. They in some ways gave us more trouble than the pirates or Jalllas since we could not just shoot them down." Kasandra interjected.

Before she could even send over the data she had collected, Ezra, Kaiden, and Olivia grimaced. Clearly, they already knew who Kasandra was talking about.

It turned out that the group in question had shown up around the same time as the rest of Avery's team had.

They were a large mercenary company with over a hundred ships and composed of several squads that each had their own leaders.

"At the head of the group are two commanders that are childhoods friends that started out together as mercenaries fifteen years ago. Each of them has equal authority over the company. Both of them are veteran four star mercenaries. From what I've had some of my crew look into, they are considered the strongest mercenaries in this part of the Dramid Alliance." Olivia said, having taken it upon herself to have information gathered on these troublemakers.

As it turned out though, this group was vastly different depending on which faction the members belonged to. Apparently, each of the two commanders had different styles of leadership that were vastly different.

One of them was a diligent and stoic type that kept his members in line, while the other was the one in charge of the squad that had essentially harassed the Dauntless and shown them no respect or consideration.

"How do two completely different styles of leading like that even happen? I'm surprised that the company can still exist." Jasmine said, shaking her head in disbelief.

Back when she had been a part of the Alliance Police, unruly types tended to either fall in line quickly or get kicked out. It was hard to imagine that the more straightlaced of the two commanders would put up with such behavior.

"Well, as I said, the two that are in charge have been friends pretty much their entire lives. And I've only been able to collect secondhand information from other mercenaries. So, there's probably a lot more that we don't know going on behind the scenes that only members of the group know."

Learning this information helped Avery get a better picture of the situation going on. Still, it did not change the fact that he planned on reporting the other mercenaries to the Mercenary Association. Since he had recently been promoted to a five star mercenary, his word carried with them quite a bit of weight. Especially since he outranked the commanders of the group in question.

Once Avery, Kasandra, and Jasmine were caught up on what was going on, and their team's cargo holds were filled to the brim with equipment salvaged from the eliminated pirate vessels, they all set course for the nearest colony in the Etania System that had a mercenary association branch on it.

Upon arrival, Avery and his team were given priority docking thanks to their ranks. There were not many places that would not be happy to accept five star mercenaries.

Inside the hangar the three members of Avery' crew met up with Ezra, Kaiden, and Olivia.

"Try and stay vigilant. Etania IV is a bit of a rough place. This system does not have much going for it, and some of the people here are less savory types." Ezra warned once they met back up.

He frowned when he saw Avery, since it was clear that he was pushing himself.

During the excitement of the battle against the pirates and space monsters, he had not noticed, but his body was pretty fatigued now. Avery was still recovering from his bionic augmentations and was going to need some more time to make a full recovery.

"As the captain of my ship and the leader of our group, I need to be present for this. Once we've finished our business here, I'll make sure to rest." Avery said, having noticed the concerned glances he was receiving.

Even if he was feeling a bit sore and sluggish, he was still confident he could handle himself if it became necessary. He was stronger and faster than he had been before, even if he was not yet at one hundred percent.

After reassuring his companions, Avery followed Ezra, Kaiden, and Olivia as they already knew the best route to the Mercenary Association building aboard this colony.

Just walking down the main streets was enough for Avery to tell that this colony was a rougher one.

The streets and buildings were obviously old, and while they were being maintained to a degree, there were still signs of deterioration.

As for the people, most of them seemed happy enough, but their clothing was clearly a generation out of style compared to most places in the Dramid Alliance.

Of course, since they mostly stuck to the main streets of the colony, they avoided the rougher parts where gangs were known to be charging people "protection" fees.

Eventually, they made it to the Association building. It was pretty large and one of the nicest buildings on the colony. Since the Alliance Police had less of a presence in the Etania System, that meant that there was plenty of work for mercenaries to pick up. Leading to a decent collection of revenue for the Association.

"Okay, let's go ahead and get things taken care of." Avery said, taking the lead and walking into the building.