Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary-Chapter 93 Heading Off

"We’ve been cleared to leave." Jasmine said from the support station to the left and slightly behind Avery.

Since Kasandra was going to be receiving her own vessel in a few months, Jasmine was currently training to take her role.

"Got it. Then let’s head on out. Can’t leave Kaiden and Ezra waiting for us too long."

Avery started up the Dauntless and as its thrusters roared to life, he pulled out of the hangar the ship had been docked at.

The moment Avery left the confines of the station, the familiar black expanse of space, dotted with the glimmering lights of stars and other celestial bodies, was there to greet him.

As always it was awe inspiring, but this time it was even more so than usual. For this was going to be the last time for likely several years that Avery would see the space outside of his home station.

Looking at the view of the stern camera, he took one last long look at Yuson II before imputing the coordinates for Yuson Prime where the merchant fleet his mercenary group would be protecting was waiting.

A familiar hum resounded through the ship, and a few moments later all the light on the view screen seemed to elongate as the Dauntless jumped to light speed.

"This is my first time seeing light speed from a small vessel. It’s quite something." Jasmine commented, enamored by the new experience.

She had been on passenger and Alliance Police spacecraft before, but those had all been large vessels and she had not been allowed on the bridge. She had never been able to see what the outside looked like before when traveling at light speed.

"Just wait until we enter hyperspace in a little while. Now that’s a really impressive sight." Avery said pridefully.

"Why are you acting like an expert when you only recently traveled through hyperspace for the first time. You’ve barely any more experience than Jasmine."

Kasandra’s teasing reply got a few chuckles out of Jasmine, and Avery could hardly be upset with her for pointing out the truth.

Just a few minutes later, the Dauntless exited light speed and Yuson Prime came into view.

This station normally had the most traffic in the system, but today there were even more ships than usual within the vicinity.

Around forty large cargo ships belonging to the Moonrise merchant company were either docked or floating within a few dozen kilometers of the station.

"Wow those are massive. I think some of them might even be bigger than the Alliance Police’s heavy cruisers." Avery said in amazement.

Moonrise’s flagship was over a kilometer and a half long. Making it the largest vessel in the system.

By itself it was capable of carrying several millions of tons of goods. It was a true behemoth of a cargo ship and currently being fully loaded with refined metals produced by the several mining companies based in the Yuson System.

"It certainly is large, but you can’t compare it to a warship. It doesn’t have any weapons, and its shields and plating are only a bit stronger than on an average civilian ship. That thing is built solely for transporting goods." Kasandra commented.

Taking this into account, it did seem a bit less impressive. Still, it was a behemoth of a ship. There was no doubt that it could fit thirty or more of the Dauntless inside of it.

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Along with the merchant fleet was several bands of mercenaries that were unfamiliar to Avery or Kasandra. Most likely the guards the had accompanied Moonrise’s vessels on their way here.

Checking the signature data, Avery found that they were all three star mercenaries and part of eight different groups.

"It looks like they are all solid mercenaries. A mostly successful record for each of the groups." Jasmine said, having pulled up the information from the signatures that the Dauntless’ sensors had recorded. When working with unfamiliar individuals, it was best to gather what information was out there.

Not even a minute later, they received a transmission from Kaiden and Ezra. The two of them had been waiting for Avery and his two crew members’ arrival.

"Glad to see that all of you made it. I received a message from the merchants’ leader earlier, and I expect he’ll contact you soon as well." Ezra informed them.

Kaiden had less to say, and only glared at Avery and told him to do right by his sister. Fortunately, Kasandra had already contacted him and updated him on the situation with Jasmine, otherwise he would have been liable to go ballistic.

There was still about a half hour until the agreed upon departure time, so Avery moved his vessel closer to Ezra’s and Kaiden’s and the three of them, mainly Avery and Ezra, shared what information they had.

"Oh, looks like you were right. The fleet leader is contacting me. Let me put you two on hold for now." Avery said, putting Ezra and Kaiden’s transmissions into the background and accepting the incoming one.

"This is four star mercenary, Avery Asteria, callsign Dauntless. What can I do for you?"

"I’m the one in charge of the merchant fleet, Svantur Fendar. Seeing as how you’re the famed recipient of the Alliance Silver Cross of Heroism, I felt that it was my duty to speak with you directly."

Svantur started off with a bit of flattery and explained the full makeup of the vessels under his command as well as the other guards that had been hired.

Eventually though, he broached what he was truly after.

He wanted Avery’s team to guard the flagship that would be at the front of the fleet, and that he would be on and had the most valuable cargo stored within it.

Naturally, Avery agreed since it was a request from his employer, but he was a bit nervous since this was his first escort mission.

The most dangerous positions would typically be at the front or back. This is where most attacks would come from.

"I get why he wanted us there, but this is my first time escorting anyone. I’m most used to fighting other ships. Urs hardly touched on guard jobs." Avery muttered once the call ended.

When it came to ship-to-ship combat, he was fairly confident in his skills. But protecting others while in transit was something new. He had protected mining ships before, but there was far more backup around and defensible positions everywhere. That would not be the case this time.

"There’s probably nothing to worry about. This group is too large for anyone average outlaws to even think about attacking it. We’ll probably have an uneventful journey and make it to our destination without issue." Kasandra said, recalling her own past experiences with similar jobs.

Only about one out of twenty merchant caravans were ever attacked. Of course, those that had a large number of strong guards reduced that chance even further. It was really only traders that hired incompetent guards or none at all that ended up raided.

"But that only accounts for space pirates. We could run into monsters like energy life forms as well."

Kasandra shrugged her shoulders and had no rebuttal for this. People could hardly understand why most creatures classified as space monsters did what they did. They were not as targeted or malicious as other people were, but when they attacked, it was typically brutal.

Once the last of the Moonrise cargo ships was fully stocked, the entire fleet got into formation, a and the hired mercenaries surrounded them as protection.

At the very front of the line, Avery, Ezra, and Kaiden held what many considered to be a coveted position. If any pirates did attack, their loot and bounties were up for the taking. Whoever took them down received the rewards.

"We’ve received a sync request from the lead vessel." Jasmine said.

Avery nodded his head, and his newest crew member sent a confirmation, and the Dauntless’ computer was linked to the flagship. Now they would travel together as a group when going to light speed and entering hyperspace.

After a couple minutes, all of the cargo vessels and mercenaries were synced up and ready to go.

A countdown soon came out to all ships, and the light speed drive began to charge up.

All at once, the impressive number of vessels seemed to elongate and disappear. They had successfully entered light speed.

"Every time I look at our route, I can’t help but think it’s a bit of a roundabout way to get to our destination." Avery said, studying the path laid out on the galaxy map displayed on the console in front of him.

"Well, there are only so many hyperplanes large enough to accommodate something as big as Moonrise’s flagship. Still, there are a couple faster ways we could have gone."

Kasandra and Avery intently looked over the map. Their journey could have been cut down by four days if they had gone with a different route.

The only conclusion that they could come up with was that the merchants believed this way was safer. Unfortunately, they did not have much data on far off routes that they would not be traveling through.

"Oh, looks like we’ve finally reached the first hyperplane. You’re going to be in for a treat when you see this Jasmine."

The three of them kept their eyes on the viewscreen as they waited for the synchronized entry with the merchant flagship.

It was not too much longer before they received a half-minute warning before the jump into hyperspace.

When they were finally given the signal, an energy field formed around the Dauntless, and a moment later it moved forward and entered what appeared to be a massive glowing tunnel that was primarily dark blue and black.