Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary-Chapter 101 Working Diligently

For three days, Avery and his team leisurely spent their time on Phregon III.

They indulged in popular recreational facilities on the station and stocked up on luxury foods and goods.

Overall, it had been a lazy and easygoing few days, but they needed the time to unwind. Mercenary work came with extreme danger, and staying on edge the entire time wore down on people. Without proper rest, anyone would eventually reach their limits.

Still, after being cooped up for the previous twenty-two days, the five of them went a bit crazy with their spending. All total; they collectively spent a bit over ninety thousand Krenin. An amount that would take the average person two to three years to make.

This was simply how mercenaries lived though. And Avery’s team honestly would be considered more restrained than most of the people that had taken up the same profession.

Nevertheless, after a nice break, it was time to get back to work.

The five of them had agreed that it would be best to stick around until the passenger ship fleet arrived and pick up work in the Phregon System.

Hurrying to the Dramid System would only cut into their potential earnings. The closer they got to the capital system, the more secure the area became. Leaving far fewer mercenary requests to pick up.

Between them and their ultimate destination, it was unlikely that they would find another system with as many available jobs as the Phregon System. It simply made more sense to stick around and rake in what Krenin they could before leaving.

To that end, they had searched through the jobs the association receptionist had sent them and picked out a mission patrolling the outer edge of the system where there were several hyper lane exits and entrances, as well as a large asteroid field nearby.

Pirates had set up shop in the maze of asteroids, and no matter how many times the Alliance Police chased them off, more always came back to prey on the multitude of vessels entering and leaving the system.

It had gotten to the point where there needed to be a constant presence of mercenaries out there to prey on the pirates instead. Unfortunately, there never seemed to be enough around to deal with the outlaws, so the association and Alliance Police were happy to have Avery and his group around.

This had not been the highest paying job that they could take, offering only one hundred fifty thousand a day as base pay for all of them, but it had the most potential for earnings. They would still be receiving whatever bounties the pirates had on them, along with being able to take any valuables from the ships they brought down.

Since Avery, Ezra, and Kaiden were all skilled and had strong vessels, taking this job was a no brainer. They were able to keep the system safe and make money while doing it.

"We’ve got some unidentified craft approaching. Seems that there’s thirty-one of them. Probably pirates."

Once Avery heard Jasmine’s assessment, he pulled up the radar and watched the supposed pirates’ movements.

Currently, the Dauntless was running at absolute minimum generator output to remain hidden to sensors. It would be difficult to tell whether the ship was another asteroid or just random space debris.

Ezra and Kaiden were in the area as well and doing the same thing. They had picked what they believed the most likely area pirates would appear based on data the Mercenary Association had that they had reviewed.

Their diligence appeared to be paying off this time, and the three of them waited to see if any more pirates would come along and what they were doing out here.

Soon the answer to their second question became apparent.

Several warp out signals from hyperspace soon reached them, and only a few moments later seven cargo ships and their five escorts appeared.

’It’s almost as if the pirates knew that these folks would be arriving here around this time.’ Avery thought, suspicious of the too well timing.

Pirates often had informants that they paid off on colonies that gathered information on Alliance Police movements and valuable shipments that they could intercept. But that begged the question, who had given this group the intel on these cargo ships?

Right before the battle was about to begin, both Avery and Kaiden powered up their vessels to maximum output.

Obviously, the pirates noticed their sudden appearance on sensors, but it was already too late for them.

The Dauntless came flying out of the asteroid field at a breakneck pace, while Kaiden’s ship was not far behind.

"We’ve got two bogies inbound. Squad two, attack pattern gamma. Tear them apart quickly and come back to gather the loot."

Receiving their commander’s orders, ten of the pirates peeled away from the group and flew towards Avery and Kaiden in a tight formation.

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"Looks like they’ve got a competent commander." Avery commented after seeing the way the pirates reacted.

"Their ships and weapons aren’t anything to scoff at either. I’d say each of them has equipment on par with lower end two star mercenaries." Kasandra said, giving Avery her impression of their foes once she scanned them.

They were certainly up against a better than average pirate group, but that was hardly a concern for them.

Avery used his thrusters to charge straight ahead and threw in a few sharp jerking movements to make it more difficult to hit the Dauntless.

Lasers and missiles came flying at him, though, he hardly seemed perturbed by this. Compared to the true military warships they had fought a week ago, these pirates were nothing.

"He’s not going to stop!"

"The bustard’s crazy!"

"Holy sh*t he’s coming right at me!"

Without stopping, Avery kept the Dauntless heading directly for the pirates.

He was on pretty much a direct impact course with one of them and forced that individual to break out of formation or be crashed into.

Of course, Avery was prepared to maneuver out of the way if the guy actually had the guts to answer his bluff, but the pirate that valued his life above all else naturally moved out of the way.

As he passed by, Avery fired off his heavy laser cannons and plasma launchers.

He scored direct hits with all of his weapons, yet surprisingly, the pirates’ shields held up against his powerful lasers that were some of the best in the entire Alliance.

Nevertheless, the burning plasma cut through them with ease, and Kasandra fired the stern scatterguns as they went by to inflict some more damage to eight remaining pirates.

"Turn around and get him!" One of the outlaws shouted over wideband comms.

Hearing this, Avery muttered, "Idiots."

While they were rushing to attack him, Kaiden finally caught up and let loose with his own weapons.

His medium sized vessels had more hardpoints to install weapons, and he had certainly made the most of it.

Six pulse lasers fired in rapid succession, and four multicannons roared to life and let loose a barrage of projectiles.

The concentrated blast of lasers evaporated one of the pirate’s already weakened shields and broke through with ease. Then the multicannons’ fire shredded the vessel’s cockpit and killed the pilot inside.

This was Kaiden’s fighting style. Burst down his enemies’ shields with powerful lasers and then finish them off with a hail of high-powered bullets.

Working together, Avery and Kaiden finished off the ten that had intercepted them. Their shields had suffered some minor damage, but overall, it was a flawless victory.

When they turned their attention back to the remining pirates and the small convoy they were attacking, things were not looking too good.

The five mercenary guards that had been hired to protect the cargo vessels had fled. A decision that had saved their lives at the cost of abandoning their clients.

"They’re thrusters have been disabled, and it looks like the pirates are preparing to board." Jasmine said, both disgust and worry in her tone.

Noticing that Avery and Kaiden had taken out their detached force, the pirate commander directly contacted them.

"Stop right there or we’ll blow these merchants away. If you just let us take the cargo peacefully, we won’t kill anyone."

"Yeah right. Do your worst." Avery responded, opening fire with his heavy laser cannons.

Kaiden followed suit with a full volley from his own weapons. If there was one thing every good mercenary knew, it was to never negotiate with pirates. Lying came as easily to them as breathing.

Even after their noncompliance, the pirates still did not make good on their threats. If they destroyed the cargo ships, then they would lose most of the goods that they were trying to steal. An objectively horrible decision considering how much this raid had already cost them.

Starting to feel desperate, the commander sent a message to the reserve forces he had hiding nearby. Another seventeen fighters would soon be on their way.

In the meantime, he kept his motley band together and issued orders the best he could.

"Looks like trying to act like heroes is just going to have you both end up dead."

"I can’t wait to integrate those advanced weapons system into my vessels."

"Hey, I get first dibs on the lasers. I don’t care about the rest."

Before the battle was even over, the pirates started making plans for their victory. Believing that the addition of another seventeen of their comrades would be enough to easily overpower just two ships.

However, the reserve force soon met quite the obstacle.

Ezra had been lying in wait for this exact scenario and ambushed the group of pirates weaving through the asteroid field.

Using the Specter’s powerful weapons and impressive maneuverability, he darted around the asteroids and systematically eliminated his targets without taking a single hit.

The difference in skills and ship specs was too great. Despite outnumbering them more than ten to one, the pirates were the ones losing.

"Damn it Retreat! Retreat!" The Pirate commander called out.

He had already lost slightly more than half of his forces, and it was clear how the tide of battle was going.

"Yeah, we’re not letting a juicy twenty-nine thousand Krenin bounty get away." Avery said, a vicious grin forming on his face.

To go along with these pirates better than average equipment and skills, was proportionately high bounties. They had been making a major nuisance of themselves, so the Alliance Police had upped the price on their heads to entice mercenaries to go after them.

In the end, Avery and his team managed to clean up every one of the pirates, and in the process saved the seven cargo vessels.

The leader of the merchants quickly contacted Avery to thank him and ask for assistance. Their thrusters had been disabled by the pirates, and they needed protection until someone came to tow them to Phregon III.